MIAMI GARDENS — The first hearty boos were heard at Hard Rock Stadium this football season. And it wasn't even for the Miami Dolphins.
It took one of the more polarizing athletes to come through South Florida in recent years to get the very sparse crowd for Miami's preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons to show some emotion.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the highest paid player in Dolphins history, returned to his home for the last six years as the Falcons starting quarterback and the fans left no doubt Friday night about how they felt about Tua's time with Miami.
For a stadium about one-third full, the crowd put everything it had into letting Tua know how they
really feel. The booing started as Tua came off the sideline for the Falcons' first series and got louder as he walked into the huddle and then behind center Corey Levin.
The anticipation was building as Tua dropped back to pass on the first play, but that bubble burst when he completed an 11 yarder to Jahan Dotson. Two more completions, one that Kyle Pitts turned into a 37-yard gain, and Tua was having the last laugh.
Three passes, three completions for 54 yards. Finally, an incompletion when Tua was chased out of the pocket and forced to throw the ball away. Something to cheer.
But that was just the appetizer. Tua led the Falcons to a touchdown on that first drive, but the start of the second drive is what these fans came to see.
Tua walked under center, barked out the play and … muffed the snap. The cheers got louder as Miami's Willie Gay emerged with the ball.
And this wasn't the first time Tua botched a snap on this field. In fact, a mishandled snap led to one of Tua's lowlights while in a Dolphins uniform. After a loss to Arizona in 2024, Tua threw center Aaron Brewer under the bus, saying the snap was not Brewer's "best." That play led to a safety in a one-point loss.
But that was just the start. Tua then turned his ire toward the fans.
"I'd like to see a lot of other people go back there and try to catch that ball, too," he said. "It's not as easy as what it looked like sitting down on your couch eating chips."
Things got worse from there for Tua. Little more than 16 months later, the Dolphins released the man who they handed $167.1 million guaranteed in the summer of 2024.
The Falcons are hoping to find some reward with very little risk, signing Tua for one year and $1.3 million, the veteran minimum.
Tua makes case for Falcons starting job with nice outing vs. Dolphins
Tua practically was handed the Falcons starting job — at least early on — with expected starter Michael Penix recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 11 last season.
But his training camp struggles had some cracking he was losing that job to air. Penix suddenly re-emerged as a possible Week 1 starter after he was fully cleared for 11-on-11 team drills and all football activities the week of the final preseason game.
Coach Kevin Stefanski must be feeling a bit better about Tua after he completed all but one of his eight passes for 95 yards in his only quarter against the Dolphins. His 116.1 QBR was better than all but two of his 14 games in his final season with Miami.
Tua was sharp on the drive after the fumble, completing four consecutive passes for 41 yards before Brian Robinson's fumble ended the drive.
Cooper Rush replaced Tua on the Falcons' first possession of the second quarter.
As for Tua, he will be associated with failure as much as any athlete to come through South Florida.
Fairly or unfairly.
He had the weight of the franchise on his shoulders with the slogan — Tank For Tua — for an entire rebuild centered around the man expected to be the savior.
After six mostly painful years marred by injuries and a bloated contract that can only be blamed on former GM Chris Grier, the Dolphins cut ties. So desperate was this franchise to move on that it took a NFL record cap hit of $99.2 million spread over two years.
He will be the highest paid player on the Dolphins' books in 2026 and 2027.
Tua Tagovailoa's time with Miami is done. But he remains the face of two Dolphins rebuilding projects. The one started with his arrival and the one started with his departure.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa booed loudly in his return to Miami
