Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tua returns to town
Here for Super Bowl, Miami fans hope QB is back to stay soon
Tua Tagovailoa loves Miami. He’s in town for the Super Bowl this week — his second time in South Florida this month — making the media rounds before Sunday’s big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium. Could it be his future home? “It’s a beautiful place,” Tagovailoa said of Miami.
Added Tagovailoa’s father, Galu: “We love it. Miami is a beautiful place . ... Hopefully, in the future, it’ll be nice too — if things do work out.
“[But] wherever the Lord blesses him, whatever the city and the team, we’re more than happy to be a part of any organization.”
And Galu was just as quick to laugh when that insinuated team was the Miami Dolphins. For the past year, Tua has been linked to the Dolphins.
“Tank for Tua” was the mantra that slowly dissolved over the course of the 2019 season after Tagovailoa suffered a severe hip injury and the Dolphins started winning. Miami finished 5-11 after a 0-8 start to wind up with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Tagovailoa could only laugh, sitting on an elaborate set with Rich Eisen and Bleacher Report Gridiron at 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami, when asked about the thought of the Dolphins tanking for him.
“You grow up as a little kid, you dream of things like that,” Tagovailoa said with a smile. “It’s an honor. It’s a privilege.”
The Dolphins may have to trade up to draft Tagovailoa, but they have the resources to make such a deal, unlike other teams.
Tagovailoa says he is on track with his hip-recovery process. The day after the Super Bowl will be his three-month check-in with doctors.
“If everything is good, doctors will let us loose a little more,” said Tagovailoa, who hopes to throw during a pro day event in either late March or early April before the draft.
Galu says his son is eager to play now.
Even at Alabama’s bowl game earlier this month, when Dolphins owner Steve Ross and general manager Chris Grier were standing a few yards away from Tua on the sidelines before the game, Tagovailoa was itching to play.
“He wants to play right now,” Galu said with a laugh. “But that’s the life of a competitor, right? “He’s so used to competing and working hard to get where he’s at now.”
While Tagovailoa is visiting South Florida for the third time, this week is his family’s first in the area.
Galu and his wife Diane, Hawaiian natives who have lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, while their son played for the Crimson Tide, says Miami reminds them of back home.
They’d love to relocate to South Florida too.
“If that’s what happens,” Galu said. “Whatever is the Lord’s plan”
Tagovailoa’s father was also honored his son became a catchphrase with the “Tank for Tua” phenomenon that caught on in the past year.
While looking ahead to the future and his NFL career, the Tagovailoa family is keeping its focus on Tua’s recovery and keeping him healthy in the future.
“Our faith has been so strong,” Galu said. “We believe that God has a plan and we try not to let what’s going on outside affect what’s inside. We just allow him to heal, allow his body to heal, and that’s the biggest thing for us.
“Yeah, it was devastating. But at the same time, things like that happen for a good cause.
“He can heal up. He can actually see things in the future and know how to react to it when something else comes up.”