Tua Tagovailoa admits he nearly RETIRED from NFL after THREE concussion scares last season

Tua Tagovailoa admitted he considered retiring from the NFL after three concussion scares last season playing for Miami Dolphins.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, the 25-year-old said: ‘I considered it for a time (retiring) having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kind of conversations.

‘But really it would have been hard for me to walk away form the game given how old I am. With my son, I always dream of playing as long as I can to where my son can watch what his dad does. 

‘It is my health, it is my body, I feel like this is what is best for me and my family. I love the game of football, if I didn’t I would have quit a long time ago.’

Tagovailoa was officially diagnosed with concussion twice last season but before those two incidents, there was a moment in a game against the Buffalo Bills where he appeared unsteady on his feet after a heavy tackle.

Tua Tagovailoa of Miami Dolphins had three concussion scares last season – including a scary incident against the Cincinnati Bengals in late September 

His arms went into the Fencing position after hitting the ground off a heavy tackle

He was assessed at the time and cleared to play. But in the next game, he was hit hard by 6-foot-3, 340-pound Josh Tupou of the Bengals and went down with his hands in the Fencing position.

He left that game on a stretcher in concerning scenes and was taken straight to hospital. He was concussed again on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers – he was intercepted three times in that game but didn’t display symptoms until the next day when he was watching videos back.

Tagovailoa said Wednesday he has been told by doctors that there is no evidence he is at greater risk of getting concussed again, or developing CTE, because of what happened to him last season. 

In January, Stephen A. Smith spoke passionately of his concerns about the quarterback’s long-term health and career.

‘I think his career is in jeopardy,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to point the finger of blame. Nobody has had malice intent. But there’s no way in hell when he was in that game against Buffalo and he got knocked down, he got back up and he fell back down, that he should have been allowed to continue playing.

‘Four fays later, four, he shouldn’t have been allowed to play against Cincinnati. It’s not just about what the tests show, it’s about what the eyes see. 

‘It’s a judgement call from someone, other than the athlete, about if the athlete should be allowed on the field. Usually it takes about six days and they had a game in four – that’s three days to prepare for that game in four.

He went out onto that field in Cincinnati and we all know what happened. He was carried out in an ambulance. We saw. It was bad.

The Tua incident against the Bills was just four days before he was concussed vs. Bengals 

‘Then he comes back weeks later. We are continuously taught that when it comes to concussion, it is that dicey. Let’s talk the latest into consideration, he completed a game, Dolphins won (Dolphins actually lost 26-20) and the Monday is when they noticed the concussion issues.

‘It was after the game was over, take off his uniform, went home, came back the next day and then they noticed concussion issues.’ 

In the meantime, the NFL has approved the use of a quarterback-specific helmet that it is believed will help prevent concussions. 

The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which league data says account for approximately half of quarterback concussions