Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa appears to have slimmed down his physique, and he is sporting a second arm sleeve tattoo.
Tua Tagovailoa 3.0 appears to be loaded.
Tagovailoa’s body experienced a makeover last offseason, as the Miami Dolphins quarterback gained weight and muscle to better resist the collisions that resulted in concussions in 2022.
The former Alabama great, who led the NFL in passing yards (4,624) last season and passer rating (105.1) in 2022, also wore a tribal arm sleeve that extended from his right shoulder to his hand, paying honor to his Polynesian [Somoan] heritage.
A video and current photo of Tagovailoa at a golf tournament in Hawaii revealed that the AFC’s 2023 Pro Bowl starter has allegedly dropped weight, slimming down his frame, and is now sporting another tattoo on his left arm and shoulder area, which appears to be the beginning of a second sleeve.
“It’s something that falls off a piece that I had earlier this year,” Tagovailoa said about the left arm sleeve last year. “It’s an artwork depicting my first child. There’s a lot going on behind it, a lot of cultural meaning, a lot of things about protection, guidance, and things like that, and we believe in Samoan culture, so that’s what it is.
“And then we combined this piece (on the left wrist) that I already had with this, so it’s almost like when you pray, you remove it. It almost feels like you’re removing a piece of the tribe from this side.”
Tagovailoa’s right arm was done by an artist in Hawaii, where he was raised, therefore the tattoo could be by the same artist.
According to Tagovailoa’s trainer, Nick Hicks, Co-Owner and Director of Performance at Per4orm, one of Tagovailoa’s four areas of focus is slimming down in order to improve his mobility.
The idea is purportedly to improve his movement and possibly add a scrambling element to his game.
Last year, ESPN analyst Ryan Clark ridiculed Tagovailoa for being “thick,” causing quite a fuss on social media, especially when Tagovailoa issued Clark a warning before urging him to “keep my name out of your mouth.”
“I hail from a Samoan household, and respect is everything. 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,” said Tagovailoa, who intentionally gained 10 pounds of muscle in the 2023 offseason through weight training to help him survive a 17-game NFL season.
Tagovailoa, who has a 32-19 win-loss record as a starter, declined to say what else he planned to work on, but it has been revealed that he has spent time with 3DQB, a quarterback training program that focuses on body mechanics for many of the nation’s top prep, collegiate, draft-eligible, and professional quarterbacks.
It is unclear when Tagovailoa will work with the 3DQB team, which is directed by Tom House and includes former Dolphins quarterback John Beck, who was drafted in the second round in 2007.
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