Tua Tagovailoa Trademarks

Tua Tagovailoa is the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League.

Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa is the son of Galu and Diane Tagovailoa. He was born and raised in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. He is the oldest of five siblings and comes from a tight-knit Samoan Community. Tagovailoa grew up loving the sport of football so much that as a child, he slept with his football. His family encouraged him to play, especially his grandfather who believed that he would be a big star in the sport someday. The support of his family was so important that when his grandfather died, he considered quitting the sport, but continued playing after his father encouraged him.

As a child, Tagovailoa played Pop Warner football where he could regularly be seen completing passes of more than 30 yards before he was ten years old. By the time he reached high school, Tagovailoa was well known as a prolific passer, passing for 33 touchdowns in his first season as the varsity starter. Known not for just the distance he could throw, but for the precision that he could do it with, he only threw three interceptions in the same time period. During his high school career, he was mentored by Marcus Mariota, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy and play in the NFL. As a senior at Saint Louis School in Honolulu, he had 27 touchdowns with only 7 interceptions. He was asked to play in the All-American Bowl and to compete at the Elite 11 as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.

Although he was only considered a four-star recruit coming out of high school, Tagovailoa received more than 15 scholarship offers to play collegiate football at Division I schools. With the input of his family, he chose to play college football at the University of Alabama for Coach Nick Saban. This was a somewhat controversial choice, as the Crimson Tide was led by starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who is the only freshman Saban has ever chosen to start at that position and was statistically the best quarterback the team had to that point. However, Tagovailoa’s parents believed in him and relocated the family from Hawaii to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to support him while he played there.

As a freshman at Alabama, Tagovailoa served as the backup for quarterback Hurts. The team had many blowout wins that year which gave Tagovailoa in-game playing time. He made the most of this time and showed himself to be a great quarterback in his own right. By the end of the season, he was splitting more time on the field with Hurts and many fans wanted to see Tagovailoa named as the starter.

Tagovailoa gained national prominence when he was called on to replace Hurts after halftime in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. He threw the game-winning touchdown to future Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, who was also a true freshman. Tagovailoa was named the CFP National Championship Offensive MVP.

In the following season, Tagovailoa was named the team’s starting quarterback over Hurts. Hurts stayed with the program as a backup to Tagovailoa that season and the two remain friends to this day. Tagovailoa had a fantastic start to the season, producing one blowout win after the next. He led the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship where he had an outstanding performance and was named game MVP. He was also given the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Award for his efforts.

As a junior, Tagovailoa had a spectacular season until he was injured in a game against rival LSU. He would return after three weeks only to be injured in a game against Mississippi State. He suffered a broken nose, concussion, and dislocated and fractured hip, which would require surgery. Since he had already graduated, he decided to forgo his final year of college eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.

There was some speculation about how well he would recover from the surgery, which may have lowered his draft stock at that time. However, he was drafted fifth overall by the Dolphins. In his first season in the NFL, he started out as a backup for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Tagovailoa was named the team’s starter in week eight and then subsequently benched in week 16.

In the offseason, the Dolphins drafted Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa’s former Alabama teammate. The two would become a great pair when Tagovailoa started for the team again in 2021.

In 2017, Tagovailoa, through his company TM Sports LLC, obtained a federal trademark registration for “TUAMAN” for shirts.

His company also filed an application for a federal trademark registration of “TUA TAGOVAILOA” for personal appearances by a sports celebrity, athletic apparel, like jackets, shirts, and shoes, and for sporting goods like under-eye grease, athletic bags, gloves, and footballs.