Raiders’ Antonio Pierce Pleads With Tua Tagovailoa to Retire From NFL

Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.

After watching Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins suffer his third concussion in three years on Thursday Night Football, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said he’d seen enough.

“I’ll be honest, I’d tell him to retire,” Pierce said during his September 13 press conference. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. Played the game, I haven’t witnessed anything like I’ve seen that’s happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away, the players’ faces on the field. You can see the sense of urgency to get Tua help.

“I just think that at some point, he’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football,” Pierce said. “Take care of your family.”

Tagovailoa, who also had a concussion while the quarterback at Alabama, took a shot to the head from Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin with 4:34 left in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss on September 12. Tagovailoa crumpled to the ground and appeared briefly to be knocked unconscious.

He did not return and Skylar Thompson finished the game at quarterback for the Dolphins.

Could Tua Tagovailoa Actually Retire?

Pierce was not the only person who suggested that Tagovailoa’s future health was more important than playing football for a living.

“If I’m him, at this point, I’m seriously considering retiring from football. If that was my son, I’d be like, ‘It might be time.’ This stuff is not what you play around with,” Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez said on the Thursday Night Football telecast, according to NPR.

Shannon Sharpe, another Hall of Famer, also suggested Tagovailoa, 26, should consider walking away from football.

“Really hope Tua is ok, but he’s gotta seriously think about shutting it [down],” Sharpe said, according to NPR. “His concussions are getting worse and worse and he’s a young man with his entire life ahead of him.”

Tagovailoa, who signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the Dolphins in the offseason, risks long-term damage to his brain by continuing to take hits on the football field.

“Concussions and repeated blows to the head are key risk factors in long-term brain injuries, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a serious condition that can cause early dementia and death,” NPR wrote on September 13.

“There is no magic number of concussions to require retirement,” tweeted Chris Nowinski, a former wrestler who heads the Concussion Legacy Foundation. “It all depends on how he recovers from this one, but having too many concussions can lead to chronic symptoms and mental health disorders. He’s in a very tough spot.”

Devastating Blow to the Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have clearly grown to be big fans of Tagovailoa. They gave him a massive contract extension this offseason and head coach Mike McDaniel has spoken very highly of the quarterback. He even kissed the quarterback on the head following the latest concussion.

The Dolphins are a team with Super Bowl aspirations and have already had one playoff derailed due to a Tagovailoa injury. If the quarterback is out for the season, Miami may not have a very long run. It’s a difficult situation to navigate as the Dolphins don’t want to put Tagovailoa at risk but if the doctors clear him and he wants to play, they may have to put him back on the field. It’s not an ideal situation for the team but it’s something they’re going to need to figure out quickly.