One former player who can provide a unique perspective to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is Hall of Famer Steve Young. The 15-year NFL veteran had his playing days cut to an abrupt end after sustaining two concussions early in the 1999 season and several more concussions over his career. Young shared his concerns and personal experience while on the Dan Patrick Show.

“I could tell you that if that happened to me where you’re in these dramatic situations on the field where you had these obviously severe concussions, now that I’ve lived a long time, I would scream back, you know, be super careful. Look, the problem is you can go to all neurologists, and they’ll say well, I would if I were you, or it does seem like the best idea. No one’s going to say go play because that’s dangerous.

“Tua (Tagovailoa) is now in a place where it’s double dangerous because of not only his health but everyone on the street. Old women will walk up to him and grab his cheek. Please don’t play anymore. Please don’t do it. Please, we just can’t watch it anymore. So there’s that social pressure as well.”

Tagovailoa suffered two concussions in the 2022 season and the most recent one in the Dolphins' game against the Bills. He was also concussed once while playing at Alabama. Although, it's impossible to know for certain how many concussions Tagovailoa sustained over his entire history playing football.

The future, on and off the field, of Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is checked on by trainers after an apparent injury against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium.
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Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has urged fans and Tagovailoa supporters to stop pushing him to talk about retiring, via NFL insider Ari Meirov.

“His career is his, and that’s something that I really, really, really wish – I totally understand it, and it’s not misplaced. I totally get how that’s where people want to go to. I just wish that people would for a second hear what I’m saying that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him, so I’m going to plead with everybody that does genuinely care, that that should be the last thing on your mind.”

Bill Simmons, of The Ringer and formerly with ESPN, made an interesting point about how our concussion opinions vary across sports.

“There's no way to govern this obviously because we taped something at the top on Thursday where it's like, ‘I don't know what the number (of concussions) is for these dudes to retire,'” Simmons said. “Then I watched boxing, flew home from Boston on Saturday night and I watched boxing and UFC on JetBlue and I'm just thinking, ‘these guys are just all getting the crap kicked out of them, and then they get up and they go to the next fight. Like who are we to tell Tua?'”

It's a sensitive subject and ultimately, the decision belongs to Tagovailoa.