Writing Sports, 22 feb. Tua Tagovailoa, quarterback for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, explained Wednesday that he will take judo lessons once a week to master the way his body falls to avoid hitting his head.
“I have an established plan. I will do judo every Friday just to understand how I should handle my body and how to fall without hitting my head. It is a way of helping myself. You are playing football understanding and knowing the precautions”, explained the young quarterback field.
Tagovailoa, 24, suffered three concussions during the 2022 season on similar plays where after being knocked down his head hit the field.
The most recent of these shocks occurred on December 25 during the game against the Packers that caused him to miss the last three games of the 2022 season, including the wild card round in which Miami lost to the Bills.
The native of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was one of the substitute quarterbacks selected for the Pro Bowl Games on February 5, which he did not attend due to being under medical observation.
Tagovailoa was released a couple of weeks ago and is hoping for a contract extension with the Miami Dolphins, but given the constant concussions he has suffered, the team has yet to make such an offer.
Despite the repeated blows to the head that he suffered during the campaign, the former star of the University of Alabama affirmed that he has not thought about retirement, which is why he said that he looked in judo for a tool that would help him minimize this risk.
“I’ve had all the information I need to go ahead with the decision I made. These things can happen, it’s football; it’s a physical sport.”
One of the former American sports figures who recommended Tua to practice this discipline was judoka Jason Morris, silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“Talking about Tua’s concussion and the fact that he keeps hitting his head on the ground, I always thought the NFL should hire an expert judo coach to teach players a little judo so they learn to fall naturally. without hitting his head,” Morris said. EFE
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