Tua has Become Unlikable and has Squandered Fan Support

Tua has Become Unlikable and has Squandered Fan Support

Tank for Tua. Tan for Tua.

That’s all Dolphins fans were hoping for and screaming about for months back in 2019.

Miami drafts Tua Tagovailoa, and Dolphins fans are popping champagne in their pajamas at their house in the middle of a pandemic.

I have never in my life seen a player get damn near 100% of fan support on the night he was drafted, as Tua did with the Dolphins fan base.

And Tua rode that wave of popularity and support for years.

No matter how bad a game he may have played, no matter how bad a loss was, no matter how many times he came up short in a big moment, the fans never left his side and blindly supported him.

If Mike Florio or Chris Simms said something less than glowing about Tua’s play, Dolphins fans would almost like it was their job, then attack these people through social media, many times doing so in a vulgar manner.

Dolphins fans took ownership of Tua as if he were their child, and if you attack my child, you will get my wrath.

But, Tuas wasn’t a child.

He was a grown ass man with millions of dollars in his bank account.

And because Tua was quiet in nature, and never really rocked the boat, and came off as a helpless victim to all of the criticism, his support amongst the fan base only grew.

Then Tua signed his second contract, where, as the kids say, “he got the bag.”

And for all of the Tua supporters, it was vindication that they were right and anyone who criticized him was wrong.

But then it all changed.

They say money changes people, and in Tua’s case, it appears to have done so.

Tua found his voice.

Tua became more vocal.

And the more Tua spoke, the more the unwavering fan support began to waver.

Every time he put his foot in his mouth, he would turn off a portion of the fanbase.

It started the day after he signed the big money contract when he went on the practice field in front of the fans, grabbed the microphone, and shouted, “SHOW ME THE MONEY.”

Completely tone-deaf and lacking self-awareness.

His excuse was that he was “DARED” to say it.

So, that makes it alright?

If you are dared to drive your car off a cliff, would you do it?

Tua didn’t have the common sense to understand that by shouting “SHOW ME THE MONEY,” it comes off in poor taste and makes him look bad.

Not to mention it would be a clip that would live on forever and constantly be thrown back in his face whenever he played poorly down the road.

Weeks later, he gave an interview where he wouldn’t let the topic of Brian Flores go, and he opened up, airing all the dirty laundry from his time playing for Coach Flores.

Why though?

Flores had been gone for years; what good did this do to pick the scab off this wound?

Again, it made him look bad.

Tone-deaf and lacking self-awareness.

Some made excuses for him by his die-hard supporters, saying, Well, he was asked about it, so he answered. That isn’t a valid reason.

Public figures need to be more strategic in their responses and understand the benefits of answering this question.

It may be better to sidestep the question and avoid bringing it back to the forefront without a good reason.

Tua didn’t get that, and it was another instance of him putting his foot in his mouth.

It really got bad in October of 2024 when, after a Dolphins loss to the Arizona Cardinals in which Tua couldn’t handle a shotgun snap in the endzone that resulted in a safety that played a huge part in the Miami loss, he, for some unknown reason, attacked Dolphins fans.

Wait? What?

Attacked the fans, what did they do?

Not sure, but Tua turned his anger on them.

Tua said: “It wasn’t Brew’s best but it wasn’t my best either … It wasn’t as easy as it looks when you’re sitting at home eating chips.”

Nobody said it was easy, but when you sign a $212 million contract and get $167 million fully guaranteed, you’re expected to catch a shotgun snap. So, when you don’t and it costs the team the game, don’t take out your frustration on the fans.

Those fans eating chips on the couch are the reason you live the life you live, Tua, and make all the money you make.

It’s a poor look to attack them.

Check that, I worded that too nicely, kind of an asshole move to attack them.

Then fast forward to just last week alone, where Tua hit the daily double.

Early in the wee,k when he was asked about criticism he is getting for Miami’s poor start to the 2025 season, instead of taking the high road or talking about needing to fix things and play better, he gave a really odd answer about his priorities.

Tua said, “Whether I throw 5 picks or 5 touchdowns, I get to come home to my kids who are happy to see me every time.”

Yeah, no crap, they are your family. What does that have to do with anything?

Every person in America who has a rough day at their job goes home and is happy to see their family, and their family is happy to see them.

What Tua did was send a message to the fans that, this, the games you spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on and give you countless hours watching, yeah, doesn’t matter to me. I go home to my family, win or lose, and that’s it.

Even if that isn’t what he exactly meant, that’s how it came off, and perception is reality.

Once again, Tua is putting his foot in his mouth and his thumb in the eye of Dolphins fans.

Then on Sunday, after he threw three interceptions in a loss to the LA Chargers, Tua began throwing his teammates under the bus at his media session.

Tua said, “I think it starts with leadership and helping to articulate that for them, and then what we are expecting out of the guys.

We are expecting this, are we getting that? We have guys showing up late to player-only meetings, guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There is a lot that goes into that.”

Why is he airing the dirty laundry again to the world about players showing up late or missing player-only meetings?

Handle that behind closed doors and in private, not in front of the world.

Some of Tua’s teammates came out against him.

Former NFL players who have spent years in an NFL locker room said he handled it wrong.

Tua was universally panned for his words on Sunday.

Of course, the BS apology came on Wednesday, but it was too little, too late, as Tua had already shown his true colors by that point.