Tua Tagovailoa is a Samoan- American football quarterback. He is a rising star.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career.
- His full name is Tuanigamanuolepola “Tua” Tagovailoa
- He was born pn March 2, 1998
- He is a Samoan-American football quarterback
- He plays for the Alabama Crimson Tide
- He was born and raised in Ewa Beach, Hawaii
- Tua Tagovailoa was born March 2, 1998
- His parents are Galu Tagovailoa and Diane Tagovailoa
- He is the oldest of four children in a Samoan family
- He was said to have grown up with an intense interest in football
- With his parents noting that he would sleep with a football under his arm every night as a small child
- Tagovailoa’s father, Galu, began training Tagovailoa at the age of two
- He forced Tagovailoa to begin throwing with his left hand instead of his right
- During Pop Warner games when he was age 8, when his peers could typically throw a football little more than 10 yards, he routinely threw passes more than 30 yards
- He was slow to grow into his body
- But according to his high school coaches, “his Samoan genes finally kicked in” at about age 12
- His main inspiration during his youth was his grandfather, Seu, who was respected enough in the local Samoan community that he was regularly addressed as “Chief Tagovailoa”
- Seu believed that Tua would eventually grow into a football star
- He requested that Tua visit him after every game to give him a report, no matter the time of day, with Tua once visiting at 3:00 am
- Tua faced a crisis in the summer of 2014 when his grandfather unexpectedly died
- He briefly considered quitting football
- Until he and his father agreed that Tua could best honor Seu by continuing to play
- When Tagovailoa began varsity football in high school, he threw for 33 passing touchdowns during his first season
- With three interceptions and 2583 passing yards
- Tagovailoa said a big inspiration and motivation for his performance was how his father disciplined him
- Saying he used a belt and a bible whenever Tagovailoa threw an interception
- In 2016, Tagovailoa played in the Army All-American bowl game, a high-school football all star game
- In his regular season threw for 2669 passing yards with 27 passing touchdowns and 7 interceptions
- He was also chosen to be a part of the Elite 11 roster
- As one of the elite high-school quarterbacks and was MVP of that roster
- In 2017, he was ranked as the number one high school player in the state of Hawaii of the Class of 2017
- He attended Saint Louis School in Honolulu
- The same school as Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota
- There Mariota served as a mentor to him when they were growing up in Hawaii
- He had 17 offers from colleges to play on a college football scholarship
- Including UCLA, Oregon and Colorado
- Eventually enrolling in the University of Alabama on 1/8/2017
- He committed to play there starting from 2017
- After Tagovailoa’s commitment to Alabama and graduating early from Saint Louis School, the Tagovailoa family moved to Alabaster, Alabama
- Tagovailoa is a committed Christian
- Tagovailoa’s younger brother, Taulia, played quarterback for Thompson High School, in Alabaster
- He is currently a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide
- According to 247 Sports, Taulia was the 9th ranked dual-threat quarterback in the nation in the Class of 2019
- He received offers from nine schools, including Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Ole Miss, and Oregon
- Taulia committed to Alabama during the Alabama Spring game
- Tua and Taulia attended the Elite 11 QB camp in 2018
- With Tua returning as a guest alumnus after winning MVP in 2016
- Tagovailoa’s cousins also play football, with Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa playing defensive lineman at Notre Dame, and Adam Amosa-Tagovailo playing offensive lineman at Navy
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