Many were surprised to hear that the Miami Dolphins are benching Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of Tua Tagovailoa after their bye week, but one Hall of Fame player knows from experience that it could be a franchise-saving move.
After news surfaced on Tuesday that Tagovailoa will start for the Dolphins in Week 8, Warner tweeted that he knows exactly how Fitzpatrick feels. He noted that he was benched during the 2004 season in favor of Eli Manning when the New York Giants were in playoff contention.
I know what my man #FitzMagic is feeling, in 04 w/ NYG we were playoff team after 9 games (& i wasn’t playing as well as Fitz) when they moved 2 @EliManning – sucked 4 me – but I knew it wasn’t about that season but the future & I’d have to say it worked out pretty well 4 Gmen!
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) October 20, 2020
As Warner said, the move ended up being the right one for the Giants. Manning went on to lead the team to two championships, including an improbable win over the previously undefeated New England Patriots a few years later.
On Wednesday, Manning sent a tweet of his own thanking Warner for being a “class act and great mentor.”
Thanks for being such a class act and great mentor for me. https://t.co/wBeUCe3tAw
— Eli Manning (@EliManning) October 21, 2020
Fitzpatrick knew he was just a placeholder for Tagovailoa, and he has handled the situation as well as any team could hope. Even with Dolphins coach Brian Flores unhappy over how the Tagovailoa news got out, Fitzpatrick has still said all the right things. Miami didn’t draft Tagovailoa to have him ride the bench, and they obviously feel there is no better time than the present.
