To many, Tua Tagovailoa is known as a quiet and introspective quarterback.
However, Tagovailoa was anything but quiet at a press conference Wednesday when addressing recent comments made by ESPN analyst Ryan Clark about his weight gain in the off-season.
Clark made a joke on “NFL Live” at the expense of the former Tide quarterback this week, essentially questioning his work ethic in the off season.
“Let me tell you what he wasn’t doing: He wasn’t in the gym, I’ll bet you that,” Clark said. “He might spend a lot of time in the tattoo parlor. He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised. He looks ‘happy.’ He is thick.”
Tua responded.
“I come from a Samoan family, respect is everything,” he said. “But, you know, it does get to a point where, hey, take it a little easy on that, buddy, because I think we’re pretty tough minded people and if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy.
“I think we all worked hard throughout the offseason. And I’m not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but it takes 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.”
The young quarterback had a request for Clark.
“I’d appreciate it if you kept my name out of your mouth, that’s what I’d say.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer or Yellowhammer News.
