Tua Topics: The NBC Interview, Catching Hurts Again

Tua made clear the biggest reason he's having fun these days in a wide-ranging television interview

Tua Tagovailoa is free to be himself these days and that, as much as anything else, is why he's happy these days.

Of course, his current success and that of the Miami Dolphins offense would make difficult for any quarterback not to be happy, but anyone who listened to his extensive interview with Michael Smith from NBC Sports should have come away with the same feeling.

Mike McDaniel was a godsend for Tua, and not just because of his X's and O's brilliance.

Asked about three things he's grateful for, Tua mentioned after family and friends that he's grateful that he can be himself at work.

This was as telling a Tua comment as there was in the 19-minute interview: "Weirdly, I found that out last year for myself, like who I was, like not Tua the football player, not Tua the husband, not Tua the dad, like Tua?" Tagovailoa said. "Like, who am I? I think that's something that a lot of us, if asked, it's like, well, I'm Tua, but like, really deep down, who are you? Like if you ask yourself that, it's hard to answer for anyone. Some people, easy because they're able to be themselves for however long but I would say for me prior to that, it was almost like (a) people-pleasing type of deal. And being like a yes man almost.

"And so with, Mike, being able to come down here and allow me to be myself. I mean, I wouldn't even laugh at his jokes in team meetings. I would so nervous. I just wanted to get everything right. I was very tense all the time. And yeah, we could go we could go real deep into it. But yeah, I mean, that's what it is."

You can check out the whole interview right here.

TUA LOOKING TO CATCH HURTS AGAIN

If you're startled by the headline above, allow us to explain.

Tua was behind Jalen Hurts at the start of his Alabama career before his college career took off when he led the  Crimson Tide to the 2017 national championship with a second-half rally against Georgia capped by his overtime touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.

In the NFL, Hurts preceded Tua in being among the top vote-getters for NFL MVP when he finished second to Patrick Mahomes last year and, of course, his season was capped by a Super Bowl appearance. And, lastly, Hurts was the first of the two to get a big second NFL contract.

Six games into the 2023 season, Tua is on track to top Hurts' MVP showing because he's currently the favorite, per BetOnline, and the Dolphins sure look like a team that could duplicate what the Eagles did last season with a Super Bowl appearance of their own.

And Tua is making himself a lot of money with each great passing performance and could be in line for a lucrative extension himself next offseason if things stay on the current track.

For Tua, though, it's not about competing with Hurts, a former teammate for whom he has a lot of respect.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s different ways to skin the cat, right?" Tua said this week. "Many different ways. He went down a different road than I did to get to where I’m at. And he had to go down a different road to get to where he’s at. But like I said, I got a lot of respect for him — who he is as a person who he is as a player and wish him the best of luck as we play him.

"I think in competition mode, it’s one of those things where I know where he’s at with his play, he knows where I’m at with my play. We’ll probably see each other before the game to wish each other luck, but at the end of the day, we’re both trying to help our teams win. And I know that he’s doing all that he can to help his offense be successful against our defense and I’m doing the exact same, trying to work hard to do the exact same to their defense. I got a lot of respect for Jalen. He’s been a great competitor since I got there to Alabama. He’s been a special player since I’ve been there, and he’s been a special player throughout his entire college career. So I know it’ll be a good game and I don’t think of it as a Super Bowl preview or anything like that. I just think that this is another team that we’re preparing for and in order for us to get to where we want to go to, we’ve got to play this game.”