Some NFL teams wary of attention Tagovailoa invites
The four top quarterbacks prospects headed into the 2020 NFL draft — Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love — all possess gifts that teams are clearly valuing as first-round worthy.
These four players have different approaches. They have different strengths and different weaknesses. And that is perfectly fine.
But now I’m going to share something at least two NFL teams, including the Dolphins, have noticed that puts three of those guys in one group and sets one of those guys apart from the others.
Tua Tagovailoa sure is trying hard.
And it’s not necessarily a good thing.
During the Super Bowl, which was in Miami, Tagovailoa made the media rounds as part of a deal he signed with some sponsor. He was a star on radio row.
And he was the only one of the four quarterbacks mentioned above who were prominent in that venue.
Then there was the sit-down interview with NFL Network before the Combine. Then there was the other conversation with NFL Network. Then there was Wednesday’s interview with the NFL Network. Then there was the first ESPN exclusive interview, then there was the second ESPN exclusive interview, then there was another ESPN exclusive interview on Wednesday. Then there was the leak of how Tagovailoa felt and what was said during his NFL Combine interview with the Miami Dolphins.
Then there was the leak of how Tagovailoa felt and what was said during his NFL Combine interview with the Washington Redskins.
Then there were the curiously timed leaks of Tagovailoa’s progress as he rehabilitated from his hip surgery. I counted two of these before moving on — and, not shockingly, both reported positive news but lacked tangible details or evidence.
And all this stuff was interesting and cool by me, because I’m part of the media. And if Tagovailoa or his camp like getting his name out
there, and like planting stories, and enjoy attention, you have certainly gotten after it with gusto, fellas!
The more the merrier. But NFL teams are not the media. They don’t think like the media.
NFL teams, indeed, often do whatever they can to keep their players as far from the media as permissible by league guidelines. Because most want their players thinking, eating, breathing, living football, and winning, and the team.
They generally don’t want players making time for self-promotion.
NFL teams often hide injury information and some coaches refuse to even discuss player injuries during press conferences. So I’m quite sure they don’t love the idea of players leaking injury stories to reporters.
Or leaking information of private meetings.
And this is where it gets interesting to me:
Because I have not read and could not find significant leaks of the meetings Burrow, or Love or Herbert had with the various teams that provided details to the scale of the leaks about Tagovailoa.
I mean, I have seen lines saying things like, so-and-so met with a team X and it went well. I have seen one story detailing that Mike Brown was part of the Cincinnati Bengals meeting with Burrow.
But significant details?
Complaints? Quoted conversation in the room? Nope.
Then I looked to see if Burrow and Love and Herbert made the rounds at the Super Bowl?
Nope.
Then I looked to see how often Burrow and Love and Herbert have done sit-downs and “exclusive” interviews with national networks?
Let’s just say Tagovailoa is far and away the leader.
So what does this all mean?
It means the team that drafts Tagovailoa must be comfortable with this kind of approach from him and his camp. Either that or that team must be convinced Tagovailoa will fall into line and the leaking and anonymous injury reporting will cease.
And how does this affect the Dolphins?
The Dolphins have questions about Tagovailoa — most of the medical variety.
But beyond that I have to wonder how coach
Brian Flores views the current Tagovailoa approach. Because Flores is a good guy. And his players obviously appreciate him and he obviously appreciates them.
But Flores likes his team as insulated from the outside as possible.
He doesn’t like leaks. He doesn’t like medical information getting out.
And he doesn’t want his quarterback distracted by national television interviews. Or local television interviews. Or freakin’ Face Time calls spent with a friend, for that matter, if it steals time from preparation.
Flores wants his players focused on what is inside and private to the team.
So my question would be, how is that compatible with what we have seen the past few months from Tua Tagovailoa?
Armando Salguero: 305-376-2387, @ArmandoSalguero