This morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an officially licensed, limited edition bobblehead featuring Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa riding a dolphin. Tua’s bobblehead is the newest addition to the extremely popular Riding Bobblehead Series. Tua is slated to start his first NFL game this Sunday, November 1st, when the Dolphins host the Los Angeles Rams in a highly anticipated game for the rookie. The bobbleheads were produced for the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum by FOCO, an official licensee and manufacturer of Miami Dolphins and NFL merchandise.
Wearing a blue number 1 jersey, the smiling Tagovailoa bobblehead is holding a football and sitting atop a dolphin with a Miami Dolphins’ logo on the base. Each bobblehead is individually numbered to 2,020, and they are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbleheads, which just arrived and ship now, are $40 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order. In addition to the Miami Dolphins Bobblehead, the Hall of Fame and Museum also unveiled a bobblehead of Tua in his Alabama Crimson Tide jersey with an elephant this morning, which is also $40 and individually numbered to 2020.
Drafted in the first round with the fifth overall selection of the 2020 NFL Draft, Tagovailoa is taking his talents to South Beach after a memorable three-year collegiate career at Alabama. In 32 games and 24 starts with the Crimson Tide, the 6-foot left-hander completed 69 percent of his passes for 7,442 yards and 87 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions while rushing for nine TDs.
Tagovailoa, who is of Samoan descent, was born and raised in Hawaii. He attended Saint Louis School where he stared on the football team and received 17 scholarship offers. Tua decided to attend the University of Alabama, where, as a true freshman, he was inserted into the College Football Playoff National Championship in the second half and ended up winning Offensive MVP honors after throwing a game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime. As a sophomore in 2018, Tagovailoa led Alabama to a national runner-up finish as he passed for 3,966 yards and 43 TDs with only six interceptions. After the regular season, he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, but he won the Walter Camp Award and Maxwell Award, which are both awarded to the top player in college football.
Tagovailoa’ s junior season ended prematurely when he suffered a dislocated hip in a game against Mississippi State. He underwent surgery two days later, finishing the season with 2,840 yards passing, 33 touchdowns and three interceptions in only nine games. In January, Tagovailoa announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Tua made his NFL debut in the Dolphins’ week six 24-0 win over the New York Jets when the quarterback came into the game with 2:27 remaining and completed both pass attempts. Heading into the bye week, Dolphins coach Brian Flores announced that Tua would start the team’s week eight game against the Los Angeles Rams on November 1st.
“The riding bobbleheads have become some of the most popular, and this bobblehead featuring Tua riding a dolphin is sure to be a hit with Dolphins fans and fans of Tua,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “Tua is one of the most exciting rookies to come out of the 2020 NFL Draft and Dolphins’ fans have reason to be excited for the future with their new quarterback.”