“It’s Not Worth It”– Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Antonio Pierce Says Tua Tagovailoa Should Retire

Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Antonio Pierce isn't beating around the bush with Tua Tagovailoa's concussion concerns. Neither have many former NFL players and pro football announcers who have encouraged the Miami Dolphins quarterback to step away from the game - for good - after he suffered what is believed to be either his third or fourth concussion in the past two years during Thursday's matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Obviously, no one wants to see Tagovailoa give up the game. He's one of the most prolific passers in the league, and he can throw the deep ball as good as anybody. Tua's truly an exciting and excellent player. But from what everyone says, he's an even more impressive human being off the football field, and that version of himself is worth preserving more than his job as a QB. That's why Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce came out today during a press conference and became one of the first - if not the first - head coaches to call for Tua to retire. And this message is not from a place of "we'd rather play the Dolphins without Tua as their QB." It's instead from a place of love, concern and truly wanting the best for the 26-year-old Tua that has so much life ahead of him. When Pierce was asked about Tagovailoa's most recent concussion, he gave a straightforward, emotional answer that seemed to prioritize Tua the person over Tua the football player: "I'll be honest, I'd just tell him to retire. It's not worth it. It's not worth it to play the game. I haven't witnessed anything like I've seen... that's happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away the player's faces on the field. You can see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua help. I just think that some point, you know, he's going to live longer than he's going to play football. Take care of your family." https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1834638919767302223