Tua Tagovailoa needs to win over the city of Miami as well as games
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has to win over the city of Miami.
If jersey sales are any indication, Tua Tagovailoa is already winning over the residents of Miami and the neighboring South Florida communities. Winning will bring South Florida back to a football town.
Earlier this week Dwyane Wade was speaking to ESPN and was asked about Tagovailoa he said “If the Dolphins get it going, it’s going to be Dolphins town”. This was in reference to the Miami Heat being the darling of the South Florida sports world.
While that might be “technically” correct, I don’t think it has ever been a basketball town, or a baseball town, or a soccer town. It is and always has been a football town. The fact that the Heat has become popular comes simply with the level of success they had. Take it away and I’m not sure fans would be supporting them nearly as much.
This is not a knock on the Miami Heat or on Wade by any means. I just see similarities to Patriot fans who flocked to support Bill Belichick and Tom Brady when they started winning and then proclaimed themselves lifelong fans of the team. Where were they when the Patriots were the bottom dwellers of the AFC East? Where will they be when they return?
In Miami, the Heat had far more success than Miami who has seen nothing since the days of Marino. When Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor lined up the Dolphins were not only relevant but they also gave fans something to support from a losing football team. Since then, there has been no one and with the Heat finding success, it is no wonder Miami has lost its hold on the sports community.
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Let’s not confuse supporting a winning franchise with abandoning their football roots. Fans have simply grown tired of supporting mediocrity and losing. Make no mistake, they are still there waiting for the Dolphins to return to prominence and Tua Tagovailoa may be the guy to get it turned around.
His jersey sales are one and two nationwide with home and away sales outpacing all other NFL players both rookies and veterans. Still, he hasn’t taken the field yet and may not take the field until 2021 but already, the interest and expectations are through the roof proving that the city of Miami is indeed a football town waiting for the team to give them someone to cheer for individually. A face of the franchise they can get behind. Dwyane Wade helped the Heat build that franchise and the fan base and now Tagovailoa will be given the opportunity to take it away and awake the sleeping football fandom that so desperately wants to fill Hard Rock Stadium.