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Shots were fired by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday of Week 16 (Dec. 20), and they appeared to strike a nerve with NFL Hall of Famer turned media personality Shannon Sharpe.
After Tagovailoa went off on the national narrative that he’s carried by playmakers like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, noting that he “keeps receipts,” Sharpe responded with a viral rant of his own. It came on the December 21 edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” and was reposted by Sun Sentinel reporter David Furones on X).
“He doesn’t care but he spends 90 minutes at the podium telling you he doesn’t care,” Sharpe began. “Where was this attitude after the Tennessee loss?”
“That was your time!” He went on. “No, don’t get up there [after] you beat the [New York] Jets. You beat the lowly, pathetic playing Jets. You hang 30 on them, they get nothing, and now you want to beat your chest like you King Kong on the Empire State Building? Bro, you standing up there like you Dan Marino. Stop playing.”
Sharpe wasn’t done, continuing: “We remember what you were before Tyreek got there. Let me tell you how much [Miami] wanted Tyreek. Davante Adams signed the largest contract in wide receiver history… the Miami Dolphins move heaven and earth to get Tyreek — gave up major compensation — and made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history.”
“You want to get up here and pretend like you the driving force?” Sharpe questioned, adding that if Tagovailoa is keeping receipts, he’s got some too.
“These guys, they love all the praise,” the former NFL athlete concluded. “They live for the praise, but they die by the criticism.”
Recapping Tua Tagovailoa’s Receipt Comments Ahead of Dolphins vs. Cowboys
The Dolphins are gearing up for a key measuring stick matchup with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16.
Although Hill is expected to return for the game, Tagovailoa went off on a bit of a tangent on December 20 after explaining that the Dolphins’ mindset doesn’t change no matter which players are available.
“Everyone wants to make this — I keep saying it — everyone wants to make this about me, about Tyreek,” Tagovailoa told reporters ahead Week 16.
“I understand that my platform and who I am in this league as a quarterback makes me — if you want — polarizing,” the quarterback went on. “Whether I’m the best. Whether I’m the worst. I could care less. I don’t listen to it.”
He joked that Dolphins Senior Director of Football Communications Anne Noland is his “bearer of bad news” if she chooses to relay any weekly criticism.
“If [Noland] does share it with me — I mean, I keep receipts,” Tagovailoa admitted, embarking on a long rant about media narratives. “We all have a way of how we do things, but all the narratives about it, sure. I am only good with Tyreek in. You’re right. That is the only time I am at my best. You’re right. I’m only good when Jaylen’s in. I could care less about it. Sure. If Jaylen and those guys are out, I’m only as good as Raheem Mostert allows me to be.”
“If that’s what the narrative needs to be and we’re able to win games, and we’re able to go where we want to go as a team, I am the worst football player, if that’s what you want,” he finally concluded. “I don’t care. I really don’t… I’m just here to do my job and my job is to help our guys win games.”
Dolphins Reporter Details the Interesting ‘Dichotomy of Tua Tagovailoa’ in 2023
The “dichotomy” of something is “a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.”
Tagovailoa’s 2023 statistics fit the term well according to ESPN beat writer Marcel Louis-Jacques.
“The dichotomy of Tua Tagovailoa in 2023,” Louis-Jacques listed on December 21, beginning with some stats that diminish his high level of QB play:
“Only [Patrick] Mahomes has more yards after completions. Only Mahomes and [Brock] Purdy average more YAC [yards after catch]. 5th-highest % of attempts at or behind the LoS [line of scrimmage]. 17th in AY/Att [air yards per attempt].”
Then came the good:
“BUT ALSO… Most completions of 50+ yards (that travel 20+ air yards). 9th-highest % of attempts 15+ AY [air yards]. 4th-best completion % on throws of 20+ AY. Highest % of TD/ATT on throws of 20+ AY. 6th in completion percentage over expectation on throws of 20+ AY.”
All this led Louis-Jacques to assess that “Tua is not pushing the ball downfield at the same rate he did in 2022 + a much higher percentage of his attempts are at/behind the LoS (18.5% vs 29.5%), and his receivers do a lot of work after the catch, BUT, he remains one of the most effective downfield passers in the NFL.”
An interesting quarterback case study indeed.
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