Tim Tebow shares advice for Tua Tagovailoa ahead of first NFL start
By SDS Staff
Published:
Before he was an SEC Network analyst and minor-league baseball player, former Florida standout Tim Tebow was in the NFL as a left-handed quarterback.
The fraternity of southpaw starting signal-callers initiates a new member Sunday as Tagovailoa is set to take over as the Miami Dolphins’ QB1, making his first pro start. Tebow discussed Tua Time during a Wednesday appearance on ESPN.
“Schematically, with your coaches and receivers, it might be a slight disadvantage, (but) not enough to worry about it,” Tebow said of Tagovailoa being a rare left-handed NFL quarterback. “It’s enough that your receivers have to get used to it. When there’s offensive line and defensive line running around the quarterback and you are throwing a slant pattern or a crossing route, they kind of see it coming from a certain place. So, receivers have to get used to it coming from a different angle.
“I also think offensive coordinators have to adjust how they call the game. Coordinators get so used to calling a play-action or a bootleg to the quarterback’s right. They have to adjust.”
Tebow was predictable in his advice for Tagovailoa.
“My piece of advice to Tua is to continue to do what you’ve done your entire life that’s made you different and made you special,” Tebow said. “Yeah, if a piece of that is being left-handed, so your awesome, Tua, but what makes you more awesome is the type of person you are, the way you care for people, the way you lead your team. It’s yes, you throw an amazing pass and you are a great competitor and you are great in clutch moments, but what sets him apart – and I think he has a chance to be great in the NFL – is he’s not just an elite quarterback and elite passer, but he’s an elite person.”
The Heisman Trophy winner from Florida is excited to see the start of Tua Time in Miami.
“I’ve seen every game Tua’s played in college,” Tebow said. “What gives Tua an advantage has nothing to do with which hand he throws it with. It has to do with the way he throws it. I think he is the most pure thrower of the football I have ever seen on the college level, and I have had a chance to see a lot of really good ones.
“Tua has a special gift to throw the football from different angles, to throw it with velocity but so catchable, on time and in rhythm. He just has a unique feel and gift. It is incredible to watch him. He will go through practices and warm-ups where it doesn’t even come close to being an incomplete pass. Every ball will be right on the money.”
[H/T AL.com]
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
