Dear Tua,

The pressure is on, I know. Hell, it’s been on.

It’s been on since your grandfather, Seu “Papa” Tagovailoa told you when you were young that you were destined for greatness on the football field.

It’s been on since you rewrote the Saint Louis High School record books for passing numbers, besting even your mentor and Heisman winner Marcus Mariota.

It’s been on since you won MVP at the 2016 Elite 11 QB competition, the premier showcase of the best high school quarterbacks in the country, where you became a nationally known prospect.

It’s been on since you became a 5-star recruit, considered the No. 1 ranked dual-threat QB in the country in the 2017 recruiting class.

It’s been on since you chose Alabama — the most prestigious football program in the history of the game in the middle of its most celebrated era of dominance ever — as the place where you wanted to make your mark in the college football landscape.

And the pressure was certainly on when Coach Saban told you at halftime of the National Championship Game, with your team trailing 13-0, that you were being tasked to lead them out of the hole and into history. And you did just that, sparking the Alabama offense to 20-second half points and ultimately throwing the 41-yard game winning TD pass in OT.

Now you enter the 2018 season no longer expected to tote the clipboard like you did as a freshman. Now you enter a season with expectations of being “the man” for the whole season, not just one half of one game.

So, the pressure is on. It’s been on before this, but it’s never been like this.

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You’re now essentially the face of the most powerful college football program of all time, coming off a performance where you became a school legend with your heroics in the title game, and fans will only expect more of that. You’re now the leader of a team that is expected to win another national title. Did you read what Trent Dilfer said? Anything less than that will be deemed a failure. Oh, and as of this writing, you’re the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman, according to Vegas.

We haven’t even factored in the pressure you undoubtedly put on yourself, either. To bring home another Heisman to Hawai’i. To represent the islanders on the national stage. To represent your name and your family with all of the country watching. Surely your own expectations are even higher than that of the fans, media, coaches or teammates.

There’s a lot of pressure packed into this season, my man. This much is absolutely certain. And this kind of pressure has destroyed countless other young and talented QBs before. The past is littered with extraordinarily gifted QBs with huge hype and monster expectations who crumbled under the pressure. Some can’t take it. Others, like you, can.

So, Tua, my wish for you is that you drown out the pressure and all the noise off the field. Forget about it. Ignore it. Stay off social media and don’t bother checking stories after the game or during the week. Don’t let hype guys artificially build you up and don’t let clueless naysayers drag you down. All you have to do is keep your nose down and keep grinding, play by play, and game by game. The rest will take care of itself.

Look, you know you’re talented. You’ve seen yourself in direct competition with others in your class at Elite 11 and bested them all. You’ve seen yourself in practice over the past year going against a defense literally filled with future NFL players. You know you’ve got an arm that others simply do not.

You also know you’re well coached. This program hasn’t been this successful for this long by luck. You’ll be put in the best possible situation to succeed you could ask for, with professional level preparation that you rarely find outside of the NFL.

You also know you’ve got a ridiculously talented ensemble of teammates that will help you achieve greatness. A young and dynamic receiving corps with the speed necessary to haul in those deep balls. A powerful group of tailbacks who will keep the offense balanced so defenses don’t drop everyone back into coverage. An offensive line considered one of the best in the game. A young but physically gifted defense that won’t force you to win games by yourself. And a coach who is undisputedly the greatest in the history of college football.

You’ve got everything in place continue building your already growing legend and rewrite the history books.

Just don’t let the bright lights blind you, is all I ask. Rep by rep, play by play, game by game, riding the occasional lows with the countless highs and ignoring everything else.

The results will be there in the end.