Tua Tagovailoa just wrapped up his first season with the Miami Dolphins, but his future with the team could already be in jeopardy. Despite him being a rookie, a report surfaced this past month that his teammates were not confident in his abilities, and he has been mentioned in trade talks when it comes to the tense situation between the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson. While some may be questioning his potential as an NFL quarterback, there are others who expect him to make a huge leap in his second season. One of those people is Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens.
During a recent discussion on Owens' YouTube channel with fellow Hall of Fame wideout Jerry Rice, the question was asked if Tagovailoa was the next Steve Young-type player. Owens then told a story about meeting Tagovailoa for the first time at the University of Alabama and running routes with him, and how he came away so impressed with the young quarterback that he thought he could start in the league immediately.
Powerful words from the Hall of Famer about Tua pic.twitter.com/DLgjeNOPW6
— Juan C 5RSN (@exclusvty) January 26, 2021
"He comes out, he wasn't as tall as I thought he was going to be, we was out there an hour and half," Owens said (H/T 247Sports). "This dude was so impressive that when I left there, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, honestly, this dude could probably play in the league right now,'" Owens said. "He hit every route. When I was running my routes, I was envisioning and I saw Steve Young throwing the ball to me."
Owens then revealed that he made a bet with a friend at halftime of the national championship game, when Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts and led Alabama to a comeback victory over Georgia back in January of 2018.
Tagovailoa completed 64.1% of his passes for 1,814 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games this past season. It was an up-and-down year, but the young signal-caller has enough talent that he could change the minds of some detractors in 2021.
