Tua remains humble despite celebrity status
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Make no mistake about it: Tua Tagovailoa is Alabama’s starting quarterback and the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.
But that doesn’t mean he views himself any differently than he did a year ago when he was a backup until the second half of the College Football Playoff championship game.
During the team’s daily stretching period in the Monday practice following the Louisville season opener, when Tagovailoa officially won the starting job, junior Jalen Hurts — who had started the previous 28 games over the past two seasons — abdicated his usual place at the front of the quarterback line.
While initially shocked by the suggestion, Tagovailoa immediately dismissed the idea, a counter that spoke to his own sense of team and how he sees himself within the Crimson Tide’s talent-laden roster.
“I told him, ‘No,’ I told him that he still belongs in that role just because of everything that he’s done,” Tagovailoa recalled Tuesday in his first media availability since a preseason session in early August. “I think that was a very mature move of him trying to do that. I would have never thought of doing that. Just the maturity that he has trying to do that, I thought that was something very special.”
A month into the starting role, the monumental hype surrounding Tagovailoa has only grown as he continues to put up video game-like numbers while directing the top-ranked Crimson Tide offense.
In the preseason, before he even won the starting job, Tagovailoa was already a 7-1 favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy, according to Bovada Las Vegas. That figure has since ballooned to 10-11 entering October.
Not that he’s allowed any such accolades to affect him much.
“He hasn’t changed at all,” sophomore right tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. said of Tagovailoa. “Ever since (being named a starter) he’s been fine. He’s been the same person he was before.”
In fact, if anything, Tagovailoa has actually opened up some as the fun-loving team leader fans see whenever he’s races onto the field to be the first to congratulate Hurts whenever the glorified backup scores a touchdown.
“It’s his personality — he’s coming out of his shell and showing his true personality,” sophomore receiver Henry Ruggs III said. “He’s a great person. He’s open. It’s just starting to show now.”
Still, the overwhelming adulation Tagovailoa has received nationally and locally has elevated the 20-year-old from Hawaii to a near boy band-level celebrity status, especially around the state.
“Yeah, it’s changed in some ways, you become more recognizable in public and what not,” Tagovailoa said. “I can’t do things that I want to do any more without people trying to stop us. (Even) going out to eat with my family, people are just coming up and asking for pictures.”
While admittedly daunting at times, the unassuming Tagovailoa hasn’t let the attention alter his approach while out and about in Tuscaloosa.
“(It’s) not too crazy. I mean he handles it well,” Wills said. “Everybody wants to take a picture, and he’ll go and say, ‘ What’s up?’ It’s just, ‘Hi, how are you doing,’ and keep it moving.”
Whether or not he enjoys the recognition is another story entirely.
“I wouldn’t say the attention is for me,” Tagovailoa said. “I like it, it’s good, but it’s just not something I kind of like as much.”
Of course, he’s brought much of it on himself with his stellar start.
Tagovailoa’s 238.3 passer rating leads the nation, nearly 7 points higher than Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and nearly 40 points higher than West Virginia’s Will Grier. His 14-0 TD-to-interception ratio is also among the best.
Tagovailoa’s start has even managed to exceed, at least to some degree, the expectations of hard-to-please Alabama coach Nick Saban, especially given his inexperience in that role.
“He has played extremely well in every game,” Saban said on Monday. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do the things we need to do to help him continue to play with that kind of consistency.”
When asked about those comments Tuesday, Tagovailoa couldn’t help but feign surprise. “Coach Saban said I exceeded his expectations? I don’t think he did,” Tagovailoa said with a smile.