The enduring image of Tua Tagovelloa in Alabama's uniform might be this: there was bleeding from his face, his body curled up on the car that left him on the field after an injury.
Starkville, Miss. On Saturday, that was the scene, after the star Alabama quarterback, Miswilo State players descended the turf after a late chase in the first half of a 38–7 Crimson toss win.
A towel over his head raised his screams from a dislocated hip that would end his season, likely to provide a bookend moment for a sterling college career. The second came two years ago when he came off the bench as a freshman in halftime of the national championship game and made an exciting return to Alabama with an audacious walk-off touchdown pass to Georgia.
"He was screaming in pain as medical training staff had to pick him up and carry him off the cart." @MollyAMcGrath said the first report is that Tua Tagovailoa suffered an injury to his right hip vs. Mississippi State. pic.twitter.com/ppMJykMq9N— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 16, 2019
Alabama team doctor, Lyall Cain, said in a statement Saturday night that further tests would guide treatment, but Tagovelloa should heal completely. But the injury was so severe that Tagovelloa was flown by helicopter to Birmingham Hospital. Later, coach Nick Saban told reporters: "Godspeed for him and his entire family, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and hope that it is not so serious that it has any long-term impact on his future as a player." Ho."
And the craze of conversation is: what is the future of Tagovelloa?
He could be the top pick in the NFL draft, an athletic left-handed player with impeccable accuracy, a strong arm, and consistently surprising decisions. Tying those qualities together was a magnetic presence - part toughness, part charm - that could make him a franchise quarterback.
But as the severity of Tagovelloa's injury became clear, questions began to arise as to why Tagovelloa was playing.
This is a calculus that is increasingly necessary these days in college, where money is spent on all players. Tagoveloa underwent ankle surgery last month and did so in April to sign a pro contract with a guarantee of at least $ 25 million.
If Tagovelloa, a junior who could choose to return next year while he was playing in the NFL, would have at least been compensated for the games he was playing. And he would also have an agent, who would have ensured that Tagovelloa received an independent opinion from doctors about his ankle injury, and evaluated his recovery from surgery related to trainers who were not on the team's payroll.
The state-of-the-art ankle surgery he received was designed in part to accelerate his recovery from a sprain and right ankle. Tagovelloa underwent the same surgery on his second ankle last year and returned three weeks later with an outstanding playoff semi-final performance over Oklahoma.
Even before his recent surgery, Tagovelloa told teammates that he would return against Louisiana State, a battle between unbeaten teams, the winner being one of all but four college football playoff spots.
In fact he returned, although Tagovelloa opted out of running with the ball and played with slight diapers, as the game wore on. And seemed to show limited practice: They lost a fumble, threw an interception and did not bring Alabama back to a 46–41 loss.
Later, Saban called him a warrior.
One such scenario came out this week. Backup Mac Jones got most of the work in practice, and proceeding until game time there was uncertainty as to whether Tagovelloa would start. But there he was in the lineup, and by the time he was injured, he was well ahead of Alabama before the bus.
Saban, who said he largely abandoned his decision to play against LSU against Tagovailoa, called Saturday's injury a freak incident and said Tagovalloa went well in the pregame workouts, perhaps better than he did earlier in the week. Were.
"We can second guess ourselves," Saban said.
There will be many Saban could earn $ 800,000 in bonuses if Alabama wins the national championship. There is no such incentive for Tagovailoa. Or any of the stars of college football. Ohio State defensive lineman Nick Bossa had abdominal surgery in September 2018 and was drafted to the draft instead of trying to return to Buckeye. Other players who are the NFL's top prospects now regularly skip bowl games that are not part of the playoffs.
Saban was asked before the LSU game how much he considered a player's pro-earning ability when deciding how to play after an injury.
"I think the question would be do they create value for themselves by being great competitors?" Saaban said. "Always making the best choices and decisions for your team? In terms of always making your choices and decisions about what they could have done to contribute to their team? People still value those who always decide Do what they do. "
Maybe they do. But the right decision for Saban may not be right for his quarterback, who wanted to play on Saturday but now faces uncertainty tomorrow.