Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is sick and tired of the slander and on Wednesday he pushed back.
Earlier this week, ESPN analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark criticized Tua for his weight saying Tagovailoa “looked like he skipped the gym and not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised.”
Clark added Tagovailoa – who has worked to improve his body for 2023 after sustaining two documented concussions and missing five games last season – appeared happy, thick and compared him to a dancer at a strip club.
When asked about his reaction to Clark’s comments, Tua pushed back, talking about his Samoan background and warned Clark to keep “his name out of your mouth.”
“My background, I come from a Samoan family. Respect is everything. But it does get to a point where, hey, a little easy on that buddy. I think we’re pretty tough-minded people. And if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy, too,” Tagovailoa said.
“I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it takes a lot. You think I wanted to build all this muscle? To some extent, I wanted to be a little lighter. There’s a mixture of things that people don’t understand that people don’t know about that are talked about behind the scenes.
“I’d appreciate if you kept my name out your mouth, that’s what I’d say,” Tagovailoa said.
Good for Tua to stick up for himself.
