Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left Thursday's game against the Buffalo Bills with his third confirmed concussion in two years. And already several NFL greats are hoping, for Tagovailoa's sake, that Thursday will also be the final game of the 26-year-old signal-caller's football career.
"I'm thinking retirement here," Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez said on Prime Video's postgame show, arguing that he'd walk away from the NFL if he were in Tagovailoa's shoes. "To me, it seems like a no-brainer. The brain, this is something that can affect you long-term. ... For me, it's time to move on."
Gonzalez, who played 17 seasons in the NFL, added that such a decision would potentially benefit Tagovailoa's long-term health outside football, as well as that of his family. Fellow retired stars Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman agreed with Gonzalez's sentiment, indicating the Dolphins quarterback would be best served to consider calling it a career rather than fighting to return to the field.
Tagovailoa notably suffered at least two concussions during the 2022 NFL season, when he also displayed the same crumpled "fencing" posture as he did Thursday against the Bills. That posture, which saw the signal-caller's arms and hands bend unusually following contact to the head, is a "textbook sign of a severe head injury," CBS Sports HQ injury expert Marty Jaramillo tells CBS Sports.
Less than two months removed from signing a $212 million contract extension with Miami, Tagovailoa admitted following the 2022 campaign that he briefly considered retirement due to his medical history.