Tua is fighting mad!

When Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa showed up to work Wednesday, he never thought he’d have to answer questions about ignorant comments made by Ryan Clark on television.

But it was inevitable that reporters would want Tagovailoa’s thoughts about Clark, who basically called Tagovailoa overweight on ESPN.

...

Tagovailoa’s response was good, we’re publishing it in full:

“He probably knows more about me than I know about myself. I don’t know, Ryan’s been out in the league for some time. I don’t know. It’s a little weird when other people are talking about other people and they’re not that person. So it was just a little weird.

“My background is like, I come from a Samoan family. Respect is everything. But, you know, it does get to a point where, ‘Hey, a little easy on that buddy,’ because, you know, we, I think we’re pretty tough minded people and if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy too. Just saying.”

Cameron Wolfe
@CameronWolfe

Tua Tagovailoa on what he would tell ESPN’s Ryan Clark in response to his recent comments: “I would appreciate it if you kept my name out your mouth.”

Neal Driscoll
@NealDriscoll

Since entering the league Tua Tagovailoa has been an exemplary man. Showcasing a good attitude, unmatched work ethic, and elite sportsmanship.

The media has tried to bully him in the national spotlight. Enough is enough.

GOOD for Tua for standing up for himself. The players in the locker room are going to run through walls for him.

1:29 PM · Aug 23, 2023

JMP wrote:I will NEVER understand the media obsession with trashing Tua every chance they get. He seems like one of the nicest, most humble athletes around - which is almost impossibly rare nowadays - and he's never said or done anything negative.  But assholes like Clark just can't stop putting him down.  Do these people hate lefties?  Is it racism against Pacific Islanders?  I don't understand.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:I will NEVER understand the media obsession with trashing Tua every chance they get. He seems like one of the nicest, most humble athletes around - which is almost impossibly rare nowadays - and he's never said or done anything negative.  But assholes like Clark just can't stop putting him down.  Do these people hate lefties?  Is it racism against Pacific Islanders?  I don't understand.

You just answered your own question. We now live in a society where people are hated BECAUSE they are nice, humble, and don't act in a negative way. Good is the new evil and evil is the new good.

And I'll let you in on another dirty little secret: the same group who constantly refers to themselves as "tolerant" and "inclusive" are bigoted as hell not only against whites, but Hispanics and Asians too. Don't let the token months named after them fool you, that's just a bone tossed out to distract you like it would a dog. People that's what those people see the rest of us as--a bunch of mongrels too stupid to deserve to exist. If I was Tua I would not have been so nice. The first thing I'd have said was that Ryan Clark better get his resume updated seeing as his employer's been laying off so many people lately. That would've been my opening jab and I'd have escalated from there.

DolFan 316 wrote:Here's what I'd have actually said, or something similar.

Ryan Clark? He works for ESPN, right? He better get that resume updated since I hear his employer is losing billions and has already laid off a lot of people. Just sayin'. How tall is Ryan Clark anyway? Anybody know? (Gets an answer.) Oh wow...I had no idea God could stack crap that high. Anyway that guy's an idiot just like his mom. How do I know she's stupid? Because she didn't have him aborted. Seriously, that's one stupid bitch right there, what what she thinking? And what am I thinking wasting my time talking about some waste of oxygen who's gonna be working a minimum wage job before the year is out after ESPN finally realizes he offers no value whatsoever? Ryan Clark defies the laws of physics by sucking and blowing at the same time. It's the only reason he's managed to keep his job this long to be honest.

(Drops mic.)

JMP wrote:ESPN is complete trash.

Robert Griffin III
@RGIII

Tua putting on muscle this off-season to help himself stay healthy through an entire NFL season has resulted in him looking more thicc in the legs. It makes sense. Every Samoan teammate I have ever had could do a couple squats and have a pair of McThiccems for legs.

3:24 PM · Aug 23, 2023

Reason
@the_real_reason
Tua is such a class act.

On top of that - he’s one of the hardest workers at his position and we’ve seen it first hand every offseason with @per4orm
.

All he does is put his head down and work.

People spread false narratives, lies and say nonfactual things about him strictly for clicks and engagement.

This is why I cheer for the person Uno is, not just the player. He’s a great representative for this team and the sport of football.

Can’t wait to watch him shut all these clowns up this year. #finsup

2:49 PM · Aug 23, 2023

ESPN analyst and Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark issued an apology to Tua Tagovailoa on Thursday, following comments criticizing the Miami Dolphins quarterback’s weight and work ethic this offseason while comparing his figure to a dancer at a strip club.

Clark realized his comments, made in a joking manner, weren’t taken as a joke by Tagovailoa, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel or Dolphins fans on social media.

Clark added that his “ego was involved,” leading to “pride that doesn't enable me to see what this dude's going through.”

“If I've offended you Tua, if I've hurt you, if I've disrespected you, if anybody that supports you and loves you feels some sort of way because of what I said, I truly apologize,”

“The constant criticisms, the constant scrutiny, constantly being questioned. Feeling the stress of always having to prove yourself just to show people you can be available. And then you work throughout the entire offseason, which I talked to his trainer, and [he] said ‘that man was in there three times a day to build himself up to be healthy. And you got to hear a comment like this?’ So, I get it,” Clark said in his apology.

“I get it because I do want to respect Tua Tagovailoa. I get it because I want his respect, too. So, to the Miami Dolphins, to head coach Mike McDaniel, who I have a ton of respect for, but most of all to Tua Tagovailoa and his family, I deeply apologize.”

mercury22nathan wrote:bullshit.  Clark's only apologizing cause he broke code and got called on it (by other former players).  if no backlash, there wouldn't be no apology.  and i got to wonder, if an ESPN commentator of another race or perhaps less-woke leanings had made these comments, would he have been given the opportunity to "apologize" or would he have been dismissed immediately.

JMP wrote:Well said, Umix!

The really weird thing about this whole story is a grown man calling another grown man "fat" on TV.  Is this fucking junior high school?  WTF!  Clark just comes across as a bitter, ignorant - and probably racist - piece of crap.  Talk is cheap - he clearly doesn't know what the word "respect" means.

Umix10 wrote:

The worse part about it for me, is the “my best friend Troy Polamalu”.  What in the fuck is that all about?  Trying to say that he likes Samoans?  This fucktard is all over the place.  Being Hawaiian, and living in Hawaii, there is a strong Samoan, Tongan(think KOA Misi) presence here.  They are some big dudes. They are some strong and deeply rooted people.  What you see from Tua is really how their culture is.  Their body types fluctuate and weight is certainly in their DNA.  

finskev wrote:I don't watch ESPN at less it is during Football Season but Ryan Clark going after Tua was surprising because they weren't talking about Rodgers which has been none stop the last month on there radio shows, Clark get's upset because the Media asked Tua about what he said, Could be Interesting when Monday Night Countdown comes to Miami this Season might see Clark on his Knees at Midfield giving Tua his Props. Seriously was No need to go after Him at All just because he gotten Bigger doesn't mean he is Fat.