Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should retire.
After exiting the Dolphins 41-10 loss against the Buffalo Bills on September 12th with a
concussion following a tackle from Bills safety Damar Hamlin on a scramble, the immediate
attention went from the game to whether Tagovailoa should retire from the National Football
League (NFL).
The concussion was Tagovailoa’s third since the start of the 2022 season and fourth of his
collegiate and professional career including one he suffered at Alabama during the 2019 season.
Two things stood out the most regarding Tagovailoa’s most recent concussion: the first being the
hit from Hamlin not being egregiously violent and the second being Tagovailoa demonstrating
the fencing response.
Regarding what the fencing response is, Ario Hosseini and Jonathan Lifshitz at the Spinal Cord
and Brain Injury Center at the University of Kentucky found in 2009 that it was associated with
damage to the lateral vestibular nucleus. The force of the damage ruptures blood vessels which
activate the lateral vestibular nucleus thus producing the characteristic extension and stiffening
of the forearm that defines the fencing response.
The injury continues Tagovailoa’s troubling trend concerning concussions.
In a week 3 matchup against the Buffalo Bills last season, Tagovailoa exhibited trouble walking and
standing after hitting his head on the turf following a roughing the passer penalty on Bills
linebacker Matt Milano. He briefly exited the game with what the Dolphins reported was a back
injury before returning and finishing the game.
Following the game, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) launched an
investigation into whether the Dolphins violated the league’s concussion protocols by letting
Tagovailoa back into the game.
The following game, after being a game-time decision for week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals,
Tagovailoa was cleared to start. However, after taking a sack from Bengals nose tackle Josh
Tupou and hitting the back of his helmet against the turf, Tagovailoa demonstrated the fencing
response before being stretchered off the field and transported to the University of Cincinnati
Medical Center with head and neck injuries.
Two days afterwards, the NFL players’ union fired the independent neurotrauma consultant who
was involved in evaluating Tagovailoa’s concussion during the Bills game.
After Tagovailoa’s most recent concussion, the Dolphins placed him on Injured Reserve (IR) on
September 17th , making him ineligible to play until October 27th against the Arizona Cardinals.
On September 15th , NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tagovailoa had no plans to
retire. In fact, Tagovailoa had already begun seeing concussion specialists with the hopes of
returning once he and his doctors deem him ready and, more importantly, healthy to do so.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said, “I know the facts are that it’s important that he gets
healthy day by day, and in that, the best thing I can do is not try to assess what this even means
from a football standpoint.”
I believe this is a hypocritical statement from McDaniel because of how the Dolphins and he
handled Tagovailoa’s concussion against the Bills last season. I understand every NFL team has
multiple personnel involved in decision making, but, at the end of the day, it’s the head coach
who makes the final decision. The fact all of Tagovailoa’s concussions originated from playing
football means his health should be assessed from a football standpoint and, more importantly,
why he should retire.
In Mandy Kirkham, Sachini N. K. Kodithuwakku Arachchige, Leanza Driscoll, Brennan Smith,
Paul Brewer and Saori Hanaki’s 2024 study on “The Effects of Concussions on Static Postural
Stability”, they defined concussions as “a complex pathophysiological process affecting the
brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces.”
The purpose of their study was to assess the effect on concussions on postural stability in young
healthy adults. Their two hypotheses surrounding their study were that a history of concussions
would have a negative effect on postural stability and experiencing multiple and recent
concussions would cause greater balance decreases compared to single and older concussions.
Their findings supported the hypothesis that participants with a history of concussions would
have greater postural sway compared to participants with no such history. Their findings also
made it evident that concussions cause postural instabilities in which it would be a “decisive
factor when determining an athlete’s return to play following a concussion.” Kirkham,
Kodithquakku Arachchige, Driscoll, Smith, Brewer and Hanaki also said “[p]remature return to
play after a concussion is known to increase their risk of PCS and possibly fatal second impact
syndrome” which is why the Dolphins handling of Tagovailoa’s concussion during the 2022
season was so dumbfounding.
Concerning Tagovailoa’s future in the NFL, he re-signed with the Dolphins on a four-year,
$212.4 million contract with an annual value of $53.1 million, $167 million in guaranteed money
and a signing bonus of $42 million in July. If he were to retire, which he should, then he would
still be financially secure.
Ozair Hussain is a junior information systems major and a sports columnist for The Retriever.
Contact Ozair at ohussai1@umbc.edu.
