From our perspective, all Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was trying to do in a recent press conference about how he "keeps receipts'' on his critics was stand up for himself. Just a little bit.
But to former NFL star and current ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe, Tagovailoa - readying for a Sunday Week 16 visit from the Dallas Cowboys - deserves to be trashed for "standing up there like you're Dan Marino!''
The context: Tua talked at length about "not caring'' what his critics say. But then he mentioned "keeping receipts'' - which of course means that he does care. And he worked to stress the point that his success isn't all just because Miami acquired the NFL's most dangerous receiving weapon in Tyreek Hill.
Countered Sharpe on ESPN First Take. “Now you want to beat your chest like you're King Kong on the Empire State Building? Bro, you standing up there like you’re Dan Marino. Stop playing.”
Sharpe is taking the position that the Dolphins having acquired Tyreek in March 2022 has indeed "made'' Tua.
“We remember what you were before Tyreek got there,” Sharpe said. “The Miami Dolphins moved heaven and earth to get Tyreek (in a trade with Kansas City) and gave up major compensation, and made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history.
"You want to get up here and pretend like you're the driving force?
"Driving force''? Of course, that's not what Tagovailoa said. At all. He does leads the NFL in both passing yards (3,921) and completion percentage (71 percent) this season. He does have 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions and he does have a passer rating of 106 for the Dolphins, who are 10-4 and will take on the Cowboys with an opportunity to clinch the AFC East.
“These guys,'' Sharpe said, "they love all the praise. They live for the praise, but they die by the criticism.”
And in a battle between Dak Prescott's Cowboys and Tua's Dolphins? Man, whichever team loses is certainly going to hear that criticism on the Monday morning TV "debate'' shows.
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