The Miami Dolphins were one of the many stops Ryan Fitzpatrick made during his 17-year NFL career. He spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Dolphins. It was the 2020 season when he served as a mentor to first-round draft pick Tua Tagovailoa.
Before he signed with Washington and his career abruptly ended due to a hip injury, Fitzpatrick spent every day of the 2020 season in the quarterback room with Tagovailoa.
During Thursday night’s game between the Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa got stretchered off the field after a scary hit. Fitzpatrick, who is now an analyst for Amazon Prime for "TNF" broadcasts, became emotional while speaking about the injury to his “brother” Tagovailoa.
“We’ve all played a lot of football, but that’s one of the toughest scenes I think I’ve ever seen,” Fitzpatrick said (h/t FanSided). “For him, as a brother, getting to spend a few hours with him last night, he’s as happy as I’ve ever seen him. To see him do that, get knocked out, go limp, whatever it was, and you can feel it not just with the fans, but both teams. That was a scary scene. As a player, you’ve got to move on, you’ve got to play the game. As an announcer, analyst, I’m having a tough time right now.”
The Dolphins announced that Tagovailoa was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with head and neck injuries. He was conscious and had movement in all of his extremities. He will be discharged from the hospital and travel back with the Dolphins to Miami.
That is great news considering how bad the situation looked and the circumstance surrounding Tagovailoa’s health entering the week. Concern was visible from both teams, fans at the game in Cincinnati and the media. Fitzpatrick had difficulty viewing his former teammate carted off the field.
More must-reads: