Tua Tagovailoa – December 23, 2020
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Wednesday, December 23, 2020
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(You’re going to get a lot of Marcus Mariota questions today, so I guess I’ll start right with it. I read you were a fourth grader when you first met him? How vividly do you remember that exchange and what did you take with you from that time?) – “At the time, Marcus was really big in the college football realm. He was at Oregon. He was a big role model for a lot of us kids back home; but I think fourth grade when I first met him at a football camp, man, (he was) just a humble guy, a hard worker. He was one of the guys who kind of took me under his wing, so to say, when we went to passing camps at our alma mater, at Saint Louis in Hawaii. And I went and threw with the high schoolers at fourth grade. Everyone was wondering, ‘why are you throwing with us, you’re a fourth grader.’ Marcus kind of took me under his wing, so to say. I guess from there, I just really looked up to him and he’s just really been the same person.”
(If you guys both start, you and Raiders QB Marcus Mariota, it’d be the first battle of Hawaiian quarterbacks in the NFL. I’m curious what you think that would mean for the Polynesian community, the Samoan community, the Hawaiian community, to see you guys on that primetime stage Saturday?) – “I think it’s something really cool being that me and Marcus are both of Samoan heritage. His dad is Samoan and then both my parents are Samoan, and we come from Hawaii. I think that’s something super cool to see for the kids back home in Hawaii, to see two guys compete against one another, if Marcus is named the starter. But I think it’s also enlightening for someone like Kamu (Grugier-Hill) as well, who comes from the islands and who I believe knows Marcus personally, too. So if Marcus does get that opportunity, I think it’ll be really fun.”
(I know that a lot of football players like to try to keep things the same no matter what – big, small game, it doesn’t matter. I’m curious, what are some routines that you’ve maybe had for a long time? The night before the game, day of the game, things you like to always do the same way.) – “I’m not too sure. I guess if we have a home game, I go home, I shower. I don’t know, I don’t always do things the same game day. Sometimes I’ll eat before the game. Most of the time, I won’t eat. But yeah, I wouldn’t say I have something that is spot-on, I have to do or like I need to listen this song every time. I don’t have anything.”
(How would you describe Raiders QB Marcus Mariota’s legacy at your high school as you were coming in?) – “Marcus (Mariota) had a big legacy while I was coming in to start my first time at Saint Louis. That was my seventh grade year, and I believe Marcus had just left for college when I came. They just won a state championship. Marcus has just been the standard a lot of the kids back home look to as a person, as a human being and being as good as he was, that didn’t change who he was as a person.”
(I saw on social media that there was some gift giving involved with the offensive line from you, I guess last week. I know this week is Christmas. What does Christmas mean to you and what is your personal testimony that’s any part of Christmas for you?) – “I would say from a belief standpoint, what Christmas means to me is to be able to give, and that’s kind of like what the Father has done for us. He gave us the gift, which was His only Son, which was Jesus Christ, and we’re able to celebrate his birth; but for me, just being able to give something like that to the linemen, something that I know that they could use every day. They love grilling, they love cooking. So it’s something I could get that they would use. I thought that’d be pretty cool. Then just also trying to do things for others and I’m also in the process of trying to do things for the community, too.”
(I noticed there were some similarities between the interception in the first quarter of the game and your three-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter – both on the 3-yard line, both on third down, and they sent an extra rusher on both those plays. I’m wondering for you if that was a process of kind of trying to learn something in-game and applying it later on in the game and what’s that process like for you throughout the course of the game. You try to maybe apply some of the lessons you learned within the game?) – “I think that’s exactly what happened. They were different looks, but in a way similar; and the first one where I threw the interception, that was really rookie-esque, if you will – throwing that ball blindly. I could’ve just taken the sack. We had points there, whether it was a touchdown or field goal, and I threw that away and kind of gave the momentum back to the Patriots in that game. But I would say I definitely learned from that – don’t want to force anything. If I could’ve made it with my legs, then that was kind of the thing. And if not, then we still would’ve had points. We would’ve been able to kick the field goal.”
(You’re going up against obviously Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders this week. What do you think a Jon Gruden QB camp type TV show – what do you think that experience would be like for you and him, if that ever happened between you guys, if you’re a fan of the show?) – “(laugher) Yeah, I was a big fan growing up watching those shows. I watched them with my dad when I was young growing up. A lot of those – ‘Spider 2 Y peel bananas’ – (laughter) whatever he had going on, I thought that was so cool. But I don’t know how that’d be. I could only imagine how that’d be. (laughter) It’s either getting yelled at or ‘hey, good job.’ I don’t know (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you about how the offense is doing in terms of being able to pass the ball downfield, get those deep balls downfield and how do you approach that when it’s time to take a chance throwing the ball downfield and when it’s not?) – “I believe this game is taking what the defense gives us and if they’re going to continue to give us things underneath, for me, I’m going to take it and going to trust that our guys are going to catch and you never know what could happen. You never know with the yards after catch – after guys catch the ball – so I just want to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers and let them do the work. If there is a shot and it’s open, then that’s what I should be taking.”
