Tua Tagovailoa booed in return to Miami: ‘Regardless of the reaction, I love the city’
Miami Dolphins fans greeted Tua Tagovailoa with boos Friday night in his return to the stadium he once called home.
But the Atlanta Falcons quarterback insisted that while he heard those boos, they didn’t taint his perspective on the place he spent the first six years of his NFL career.
“Those are probably some of the best six years of my life, being able to play for Miami, being able to play in front of the crowd,” Tagovailoa said after Friday night’s preseason finale between the Dolphins and Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium.
“… So, regardless of the reaction, I love the city. We have a home out here. We still have our house and whatnot, but I mean, it is what it is. I can’t change any of what they did and whatnot. But it was really cool to see a lot of the guys after the game and then talk to some of the guys during the game. It was a cool homecoming, if you will.”
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The Dolphins released Tagovailoa in March, resulting in a record $99.2 million in dead money on Miami’s cap sheet two years after the franchise signed him to a contract extension that made him one of the highest-paid players in NFL history.
The Dolphins reached the playoffs twice in the six seasons after they selected Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Alabama product endured multiple head injuries during that time, and the team struggled over his final two seasons, going 15-19 as Tagovailoa started 25 of 34 games.
Not only did Tagovailoa’s play suffer in 2025, but he also made headlines for saying the wrong things, and he was eventually benched after the team’s 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15.
“Obviously, it wasn’t fun being in my position,” Tagovailoa said. “But outside of that, I wasn’t playing up to the standard that I had been playing in years past, so I understand. You have to be real with yourself. That’s what it was, bottom line. Outside of that, with how things went after, with a trade or cutting me or whatnot, I think (coach Jeff) Hafley and (general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan), they were really, really good in that process with me.”
Tagovailoa, who is competing with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job in Atlanta, fumbled a snap late in the first quarter that was recovered by the Dolphins. Aside from that, he put together a decent performance, completing 7 of 8 passes for 95 yards.
“Tua is a pro,” Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “I thought he handled the game really well. There’s a lot of emotion when you come to a place you have been before, and he compartmentalized it. He was all about his business.”