Words of wisdom for Tua
NFL quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson discuss what Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should expect when he starts for the first time against the Los Angeles Rams.
Tua Tagovailoa has been everywhere this week — including on Cam Newton’s TV set.
When the former NFL MVP and Heisman Trophy Award winner returned home from New England Patriots practice Wednesday evening, his cousin had Tua programming on the tube.
“It was a great piece,” the Patriots quarterback told the Miami Herald over Zoom this week. “I never really knew him. I still don’t really know him, but I think he’s a great person. He’s one of the few people where, you don’t necessarily have to know him, but you just say, he looks like a good dude.”
They might be strangers, but they’re kindred spirits.
Like Newton, Tagovailoa was an all-world, top-five, megahyped talent coming out of the SEC.
Like Newton, Tagovailoa has had to overcome major injury to pursue his NFL dream.
And like Newton did nearly a decade ago, Tagovailoa is about to make his first NFL start under pro sport’s strongest microscope.
Sunday is a new beginning. But it’s an old story.
Tua Time begins Sunday with great anticipation and excitement.
Sort of like the Matthew Stafford era did in Detroit in 2009.
In Baltimore, Lamar Jackson was a rock star by his second start.
And just six months after going first overall, Joe Burrow is already the face of the Bengals’ franchise.
So while the adrenaline, and perhaps anxiety, coursing through Tagovailoa’s veins ahead of his first NFL start — which comes Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams — is surely potent, it’s also not unique.
“I think it’s a ton of emotions,” Stafford, picked by the Lions first overall in the 2009 draft, told the Herald.
“Obviously, excitement to get
on the field. I remember my first game was in New Orleans, at New Orleans, the eventual Super Bowl champions that year, so it was a tough day for us. I think it’s an exciting time. Something you’ll always remember. I’m looking forward to him playing well.”
Tagovailoa had to wait until the Dolphins’ seventh game for his first start.
The Lions threw Stafford right into the pit. It didn’t go well.
He offered up three Week 1 interceptions in an 18-point loss. Things didn’t get much better from there — Stafford lost eight of his 10 starts in 2009 — but he has parlayed those struggles into an excellent career, throwing for nearly three times as many yards as anyone in Lions history.
Jackson’s career arc is way different. He has been one the league’s best players since his very first start. Like Tagovailoa, Jackson was a college star and first-round draft pick who sat behind a veteran incumbent (Joe Flacco) before a midseason promotion.
His debut was electric — leading Baltimore to a come-from-behind victory against the Bengals in Week 11 of the 2018 season — and sparked a late-season AFC North championship run.
The next year, Jackson was the best player on the planet. He became just the NFL’s second unanimously voted MVP winner, a rightful honor after rushing for 1,206 yards and throwing for 36 touchdowns.
Jackson’s advice for Tagovailoa?
“It’s important to have the same type of routine and rituals as he had in college when preparing for big games,” he said. “With this being his first start, this is obviously a big game. But he just needs to go be himself and be one with his guys. The rest will let itself happen.”
Jackson changed the face of his division with unmatched talent. Burrow is trying to change it again.
With Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh and Baker Mayfield in Cleveland, the AFC North might have the best collection of quarterbacks in football.
We will compare Burrow to Mayfield and Jackson long after Roethlisberger retires. But Tagovailoa will always be a measuring stick, too, considering their rivalry in college — Tua at Alabama, Burrow at LSU — and how the draft played out.
Burrow was college football’s best player in 2019, even before Tagovailoa injured his hip. But there’s no doubt that Tagovailoa’s injury made it easier for Cincinnati to take Burrow first overall, causing Tua to slide to the Dolphins at 5.
It might take a decade — at least — to decide who is the best pro.
“It’s exciting for him,” Burrow said in remarks provided to the Herald. “I’m happy for him. I don’t know his situation down there. I know he’s worked really hard to come back from his injury and it’s exciting to see him on the field.”
Burrow’s first start, in the Bengals’ season opener against the Chargers, was a loss — but not a total one.
Burrow shook off a costly second-half pick and drove the Bengals, down three points, to the shadow of
Los Angeles’ goal line. The Bengals ultimately imploded through no fault of Burrow’s — his game-winning touchdown to A.J. Green was negated by offensive pass interference, and then Randy Bullock missed a 31-yarder as time expired.
No one who watched that game came away thinking that the stage was too big for LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner.
“Not too much surprised me,” Burrow said. “Every game’s going to be tight. You’ve got to make the plays when they’re presented.”
As for what Burrow would say to Tagovailoa ahead of Sunday’s debut?
Cam Newton on Tua Tagovailoa
“I don’t think he needs any of my advice,” Burrow said. “We’ve been competing for a few years now. He’s a great player. I think he’ll do great.”
Meanwhile Newton, who is attempting a career renaissance in New England after winning a league
MVP with the Panthers, did choose to share a few words of wisdom.
“I would say, just take it all for what it’s worth,” he said. “Stay prepared and know what you’re good at. If you know what you’re good at, you know what you can always revert to. He has all the skill sets to be a great quarterback in this league.
“I’m wishing him the best — unless he’s going against us.”
‘‘
IF YOU KNOW
WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN ALWAYS REVERT TO. HE HAS ALL THE SKILL
SETS TO BE A GREAT QUARTERBACK IN THIS LEAGUE.