Famed neurologist urges Tua Tagovailoa to quit playing football
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins star quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, is hearing a lot of outside noise, and now, a famous neurologist is getting into the fray.
Dr. Bennet Omalu is no stranger to the NFL. His work on neuropathology and the study of concussions opened a massive can of worms for the NFL years ago and even became a major motion picture, Concussion with Will Smith.
Omalu, has a message for Tua Tagovailoa.
"“If you love your life,” Omalu said in a message to the Miami star, “if you love your family, you love your kids — if you have kids — it’s time to gallantly walk away. Go find something else to do.” – Via TMZ."
Omalu would go on to say in his message that he “loves him like he loves his son” and that he should “walk away gallantly” from the sport.
Tua has vowed to return to the field this year.
Dr. Omalu’s research into the subject is some of the best in medicine but while he doesn’t think Tua should continue to play, he did not go into details as to why exactly, Tua should hang the cleats up and not every other NFL player who has had a concussion. It feels more like a blanket statement, one that would be repeated for every other player if he were asked.
Is Tua more susceptible to a, concussion now? Yes, but only in the next couple of weeks and then, his risks are reduced but head injuries can happen at any time in a collision sport. Miami is not oblivious to this. Trent Green joined the Dolphins under Cam Cameron and suffered what would be a season-ending concussion early in the season. He had multiple concussions while with the Chiefs prior. Green would play one more game in his NFL career, with the Rams before retiring the following year.
Should Tua hang up his cleats? There is plenty of medical personnel that believe it should be considered but there doesn’t seem to be a chance that Tua has an interest. That being said, while I don’t agree with Omalu given the fact he hasn’t really presented a reason why Tua should be above others, I will say that if Tua continues to experience concussions, he will need to rethink his future. As it stands, the concussion he got on Thursday is his first as there is still debate on that from the Bills game.