When watching the Miami Dolphins, you may notice something different about their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins QB is having the best season of his career in 2023, with our Dolphins reporter Adam Beasley giving Tua his Dolphins Midseason Award for MVP.
Tua is aided by Miami having one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and two of the most dynamic receivers in the NFL in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
When watching the Dolphins, the explosive receivers may not be the only thing that catches your eye. That’s because their QB boasts a unique trait that only a select number of quarterbacks in NFL history have had.
What Hand Does Tua Tagovailoa Throw With?
Tagovailoa throws the football with his left hand, which is rare in the NFL. Tua is the only starting quarterback in the NFL in 2023 to be left-handed.
When Tua started his first game for the Miami Dolphins, he became the first left-handed QB to start an NFL game since Kellen Moore in 2016.
Left-handed quarterbacks are extremely rare. Per ESPN, since 1950, there have only been 33 left-handed quarterbacks to have played an NFL game.
Despite throwing the football with his left hand, Tua has an unusual story about how he came to be a lefty.
Why Is Tagovailoa Left-Handed?
Although Tua throws the football left-handed, he is actually right-handed.
His father, Galu Tagovailoa, changed him from throwing the ball with his right hand to his left while Tua was a child. Galu himself is left-handed, so it came naturally to teach Tua how to throw with his left hand when he was young.
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Speaking to Al.com, Tua’s father explained, “I switched him to a left-hander. But he’s a right-hander. That’s the crazy part about it. I never thought I could make him adapt to that. As we constantly kept putting the ball on his left hand, eventually he grew into throwing the ball with his left.”
Tua’s right hand is his dominant hand, doing everything in life the same way a right-handed person would. Everything but the most important job he has, throwing the football in the NFL.
The Most Famous Left-Handed Quarterbacks
Tua is not the first NFL quarterback to be left-handed. The NFL has had its fair share of left-handed quarterbacks, with some that have gone on to win Super Bowls.
Steve Young
The most famous left-handed quarterback has to be Steve Young. Young most notably played for the San Francisco 49ers between 1987 and 1999.
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Earning the nickname ‘Joe Cool’, due to his calm persona, Young won three Super Bowls with the 49ers, winning Super Bowl MVP in one.
Michael Vick
Michael Vick was also a left-handed quarterback and was an iconic player in the early 2000s. Vick was one of the players to pave the way for the modern generation of quarterbacks, having a huge arm and the athletic ability to be game-changing as a runner. Vick notably played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles, making four Pro Bowls throughout his career.
Mark Brunell
Mark Brunell is another left-handed quarterback, most famous for playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the beginning of their existence as a franchise in 1995. Brunell was named to the Pro Bowl three times and passed for over 32,000 yards in his NFL career.
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