Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had one of the most fascinating seasons of any signal-caller in the NFL this season.
Between MVP-caliber performances, multiple head injuries and missing the team’s final stretch, including their first postseason contest since 2016, the year was one to follow.
Buy Dolphins TicketsWhile Tagovailoa led the league’s fan vote for the 2023 Pro Bowl Games, he wasn’t selected as a starter. With Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, and Josh Allen and Joe Burrow bowing out, Tagovailoa would’ve been one of the alternates called up to represent the AFC, but he declined.
At the time, he was just exiting the league’s concussion protocol after sustaining a blow to the head in the team’s Christmas Day loss to the Green Bay Packers, but that wasn’t only reason, as Tagovailoa recently explained.
“I’m good. I didn’t think it was necessary the first thing I came back to do football-related wasn’t team related with the Dolphins,” Tagovailoa said on the Dan Le Batard show (transcribed by the Miami Herald). “That was one of the reasons I didn’t attend. [Also], I’m a new father. I’m spending time with my son and trying to help out my wife, get him on a sleep schedule.”
Tagovailoa is focused on working with his teammates that had to play without him for multiple games last season, and he wants to get back to performing with them. That’s commendable, as is wanting to spend time with your family after a long season.