Kelly: Tua Tagovailoa realizes ‘heavy is the crown’

Darrell Bevell issued Tua Tagovailoa a challenge nobody on the team ever thought the Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback would accept.

In the practice that followed Tagovailoa signing a new five-year, $244 million contract, which guaranteed the 26-year-old $150 million over the next three seasons, the team’s 2024 Pro Bowler was challenged by his position coach to take the microphone and do his best Jerry McGuire impersonation.

So, to everyone’s surprise, as the team began their stretches on Sunday for the first training camp practice in front of fans fans, Tagovailoa grabbed a microphone from a Dolphins staffer and rubbed the fingers on his left hand together and yelled, “show me the money!” as the crowd erupted, and his teammates cheered him on.

“Shoot, that had us turnt from the jump,” tailback Jeff Wilson said of Tagovailoa’s outburst. “To see him do that, to see him in his skin, to see him happy, man, it rubs off on everyone else because that’s how much he means to us.”

And that’s why Sunday was a celebration of Tua, who overcame a career threatening hip injury he suffered at the University of Alabama in 2019, survived a head coach (Brian Flores) who disliked him and plotted to replace him with Deshaun Watson, and overcame a series of concussions in 2022 that made Tagovailoa ponder retirement for the briefest of moments.

All of that, along with his 32-19 career record, his NFL leading passer rating (105.5) in 2022, and him leading the NFL in pass yards (4,624) last season, as the conductor of the NFL’s top ranked offense, led up to this.

Sunday was a day where Tagovailoa exhaled after five months of contentious negotiations and showcased a locked in focus addressing his contract, and what comes next while his two-year old son Ace hid behind the podium and his father, peeking out every few minutes to steal the spotlight.

Tagovailoa realizes his contract, which averages $47.1 million a season, making him the third highest paid player in the NFL in terms of average salary, raises the stakes for not just this season, but his career.

“Now that all of this is done and behind us, we know how heavy is the crown,” Tagovailoa said as his wife Annah, and 7-month old daughter Maizey watched the press conference. “I’m the highest paid employee in this [organization], so I got to [do] whatever to get my guys moving in the direction that we need to go to do those things.”

He’s referring to winning a playoff game, ending Miami’s 24-year drought, which is the longest in the NFL when it comes to teams not winning a playoff game. Tagovailoa has led Miami to the postseason twice, but last year’s dismal finish, which concluded with a 26-7 loss at Kansas City, has the world wondering if he can be clutch in moments when the stakes rises.

“I’m fired up for the organization and fired up for Tua and the work he’s done to receive something like that,” said McDaniel, whom Tagovailoa said went to owner Steve Ross and lobbied for the contract to get done after he participated in Friday’s practice without any limitations, putting a pause on his hold-in.

Hours later the deal got finalized, and Tagovailoa learned about it when General Manager Chris Grier and McDaniel because the pair interrupted the quarterback’s position meeting to let him know.

“I expected it to get done, and now that it’s done it’s about moving forward,” McDaniel said. “It’s a handshake and a smile, but not a celebration.”

It’s time to for Tagovailoa and his team to get to work, ensuring that the Dolphins possess a top ranked offense for the third straight season, and that the team delivers the franchise’s fifth straight winning season for the first time since a seven-year stretch that began in 1997 and ended in 2003.

And maybe, just maybe winning the AFC East division for the first time since 2008, setting up a home playoff game.

“We haven’t won the games that we wanted to win, get deep into the playoffs, win the games that matter. I could have had the worst passer rating [in 2023]. I could have threw for 1,000 yards [in a season],” Tagovailoa said, downplaying all his NFL accomplishments. “But if we were in those games and we were winning those big-time games and we got to go and [won] the championship, I mean, I’d trade all of that. I’d trade all of [his past achievements] for that.”