Rob Maaddi, FISM News
Tua Tagovailoa spent time seeking advice from the man his team wanted to replace him.
A week after the NFL penalized the Miami Dolphins for tampering with Tom Brady, the team was in Tampa for joint practices with the Buccaneers.
Tagovailoa had a chance to chat with Brady on the field during the first session Wednesday.
“We were talking on the side for a good bit,” Tagovailoa said. “He was just asking how the offseason was. We were talking a little about golf at the same time. But for the most part, 23 years playing, that’s a long time. That’s a lot of knowledge, so I was asking him some things and he gave me some good insight. I’m going to keep that between me and Tom. Then if you guys want to ask Tom, you can go ask him.”
Brady didn’t speak to reporters. He hasn’t made any public comments since the NFL’s investigation determined the Dolphins had impermissible communications with both Brady and his agent, Don Yee, no later than early December 2021 and after the season, while he was under contract to the Buccaneers.
“I’m still here. To me, that’s all noise at this point,” Tagovailoa said.
After the league’s announcement last week, Tagovailoa expressed he was tired of hearing about it.
“I would say the only thing that gets frustrating is if you hear it every day or if you see it every day,” he said.
For me, I eliminate all of that. Don’t hear it. Don’t see it. I go home, go to my family, study, wake up the next day, come back and enjoy football. I hear everything obviously from the media and then when [the communications staff] preps me for whatever you guys are going to say, then I’m like, ‘Ah, I’ve got to answer this. All right, let me figure out something politically correct to say.’
The NFL suspended Dolphins owner Stephen Ross through Oct. 17 and fined him $1.5 million. The Dolphins will also forfeit a first-round pick in the 2023 draft and a third-round selection in the 2024 draft for talking to Brady while he was under contract with the Patriots in 2019 and the Buccaneers in 2021.
The league said Miami’s latest discussions focused on Brady becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive, although at times they also included the possibility he would play for the team. The league says Ross and Dolphins’ vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal participated in the discussions. The NFL also fined Beal.
Brady, who turned 45 last week, retired in February only to return 40 days later.
Tagovailoa made sure to gain some insight from the seven-time Super Bowl champion during their conversation. He said Brady’s “composure in the pocket” impresses him most.
“Nothing really rattles him. When you have a guy in your face, he’s just – subtle movements and throwing the ball,” Tagovailoa said. “I would say those are top trait qualities in a really good quarterback with him, ‘Russ’ (Russell Wilson), Aaron Rodgers, all of those big-time guys.”
The Dolphins and Buccaneers are set to practice again Thursday and will face off in their preseason opener Saturday night.
Tagovailoa was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Alabama. He’s 13-8 as a starter in two seasons with the Dolphins. He’s under pressure to lead Miami to the playoffs following an offseason that featured the team acquiring star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and hiring Mike McDaniel as head coach.
“I think the communication has been good,” Tagovailoa said. “We’ve had some miscommunication out there on some team periods, but one of our team rules is when you fail, failure is a chance for opportunity. So we’ve had many of those opportunities today to recover from a misthrow, a missed assignment, a missed cadence and it was against a good defense.”