Tua Tagovailoa fires back at ESPN analyst over weight criticism

Oct 15, 2021; Ware, United Kingdom; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) at a press conference at the Hanbury Marriott Manor and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a strong response for ESPN analyst Ryan Clark over some recent criticism.

Tagovailoa was responding to comments Clark made on “ESPN NFL Live” regarding the quarterback’s weight, and he did not take Clark’s comments lying down.

Tua 👀

(via @MiamiDolphins ) pic.twitter.com/CnSMa2CXL0

— Ari M (@AriMeirov) August 23, 2023

“He probably knows more about me than I know about myself,” Tagovailoa said. “Ryan’s been out of the league for some time. I don’t know. It’s a little weird when other people are talking about other people when they’re not that person. My background, I come from a Samoan family. Respect is everything. It does get to a point where, hey, a little easy on that, buddy. I think we’re pretty tough-minded people, and if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy, too. Just saying.

“I think we all worked hard throughout the offseason. I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it tkaes a lot. You think I wanted to build all this muscle? To some extent, I wanted to be a little lighter. There’s a mixture of things that people don’t understand, that people don’t know about that are talked about that go behind the scenes. I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out your mouth. That’s what I’d say.”

Tagovailoa was responding to comments Clark made about the quarterback’s weight. Clark had suggested that Tagovailoa ignored his nutritionist’s advice and even said the quarterback was “built like a girl working at Onyx,” a reference to an Atlanta strip club.

This level of hate from Ryan Clark is unbelievable…

Tua does nothing but keep his head down and work his tail off the ENTIRE off season to get his body right.

How dare @espn for the constant hate y’all don’t even hide it anymore pic.twitter.com/w5I6OwZJH4

— JoeRobbie (@JoeRobbie_) August 22, 2023

Clark’s comments were particularly odd in light of the well-documented work Tagovailoa has undertaken during the offseason to prevent injury. It’s easy to see why Tagovailoa felt Clark’s commentary crossed a line.

Tagovailoa is coming off a season that saw him throw for 3,548 yards and 25 touchdowns in 13 games.

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