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Tua Tagovailoa’s meteoric rise from backup QB to National championship winner and Heisman hopeful has been one of the best college football storylines in the past few years.
This morning during a segment on College Gameday, Tua’s storyline took a weird turn whe he casually spoke about his father forcing him to become a left-handed quarterback and how his dad would beat him with a belt if he played badly.
Tua Tagovailoa's Dad Used to Use a Belt on Him if He Didn't Play Well #RollTide #SECChampionship https://t.co/acwfpwAWXx pic.twitter.com/F8odVxTnML
— TMSPN.com (@sportsgossip) December 1, 2018
The Internet was alarmed by how ESPN tried to frame Tua’s horrifying tales of father beating him as heartwarming when in reality they were pretty fucked up.
So to recap, Tua Tagovailoa’s dad:
– forced him to be a lefty
– beat him after he had a bad game
– chose his schoolTua is an incredible talent and somehow seems to have a good head on his shoulders, but that is the absolutely worst type of youth sports parent.
— Alex Wilcox (@AlexWilcoxTV) December 1, 2018
Was that GameDay story about Tua’s dad threatening to beat his son with a belt if he played bad supposed to be heartwarming?
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) December 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/1068911469268353024
Very heartwarming story about Tua Tagovailoa and his family on @CollegeGameDay. It was a story of totalitarianism and an autocratic father beating his son with a belt for throwing interceptions. #ohana
— Tennessee Williams (@TN_Williams) December 1, 2018
So Tua Tagovailoa's dad beat him with a belt if he played poorly in high school? Seems like a nice guy. What a totally bizarre feature on College GameDay.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) December 1, 2018