Alright Tua! I see you! Anyone who happened to catch Tua Tagovailoa on the ManningCast saw his guitar chops when he played “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton. With all the Super Bowl LVIII festivities going on in Las Vegas, and so many entertainment acts in town to see, it can be hard to stand out.
Well, unless you’re the Miami Dolphins quarterback and get your shot to play “Wagon Wheel” alongside Darius Rucker. In that case, somebody’s bound to capture video of it, and I think you’ll agree that we’re all better for it.
New York Giants QB Daniel Jones was in the crowd. Was hoping it was either by happenstance or he was having a night out in Sin City with Tua, which sounds like it’d be so much fun. Turns out it was part of a Madden Bowl after-party, and as the story below reveals, Rucker is a massive Dolphins fan. What a cool thing!
I have not the slightest clue what Tua’s partying antics are like. He strikes me as one of those dudes who, yes, is a fantastic, upstanding citizen who’s pretty buttoned-up, especially during football season. However, every now and then, Tua gets a little loose, opens up a bit, and is down to send a few drinks down the hatch and have a killer time. In this setting, with official hosting duties, it looks like Tua was fully with it and had plenty of dexterity to strut his stuff. Gotta angle for a better Madden rating any way you can.
Cynical music/guitar purists out there may find this whole scenery revolting, not to mention “Wagon Wheel” itself since it’s been played into the ground for over a decade now. Released in 2013 by Rucker, the song was originally just a chorus written by Bob Dylan in 1973, and then about 25 years later, Old Crow Medicine’s Ketch Secor took that chorus and melody, wrote the verses, and the “Wagon Wheel” we all know and love was born.
While it’s a rather simple song with a standard four-chord progression, let’s not pretend like Tua doesn’t have serious skills on the fret board. Here’s that ManningCast footage in case you’ve never seen:
I know that Tua can also sing. I wish the Manning brothers hadn’t cut in with their improvisational lyrics about what was happening on the field. I’ve heard Peyton be tone-deaf enough to last me a lifetime on those Nationwide commercials, thank you very much! At least that was sort of a meta joke that made the singing mildly funny. Would’ve loved to see Tua let those vox rip a little harder alongside Rucker, but hey, I’m not here to nitpick.
Mad respect to Tua. As a guitar player myself, it’s such a great way to work a different part of the brain. I’m sure it’s a nice interlude for Tua between studying the complex playbook deployed by Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who’s been instrumental (pun intended) in helping Tua open up his personality, regain his confidence, and play at an extremely high level.
People will likely forget, so it’s worth stating for the record: Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards this season. Brock Purdy is taking the brunt of of the “game manager” discourse/condescension at the moment, but it’ll fire back up for Tua after the Big Game. For all the haters, just remember, Tua is a baller — and he can probably play guitar much better than you can. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
