Mother of Tua Tagovailoa shares reaction when seeing her son make his NFL debut

The parents of Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa were watching proudly as he made his NFL debut late in Sunday’s win against the Jets.

The couple had planned to fly from their Hawaii home to be at Hard Rock Stadium in person, but Tagovailoa “talked [them] out of it,” according to his mother, Diane, with brother Taulia’s season at Maryland set to begin this Saturday at Northwestern. As it turned out, Brian Flores inserted the former Alabama star into the game for Ryan Fitzpatrick with the game well in hand in the 4th quarter.

“His agent texted, I looked at my phone, and I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, my son is in, my son is playing and I’m not there!’,” Diana Tagovailoa recounted to WIAT sports anchor Simone Eli.

As it turns out, it was the first time the Tagovailoas had not seen their son play in person, according to his mother. Fortunately, they should be in Florida to watch his first NFL start on Nov. 1 against the Los Angeles Rams.

"Oh my gosh, my son is in! I can't believe I'm not there!"

Diane Tagovailoa tells me that @Tua had talked them out of coming to the Dolphins game Sunday against the Jets, where he entered the game in the 4th quarter… @dtagovailoa @BamaProUpdates @CBS_42 pic.twitter.com/8x6b0E7zrb

— Simone Eli (@SimoneEli_TV) October 20, 2020

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.