He took the podium without crutches Monday, and you know that was quite purposeful.
Tua Tagovailoa said his goodbye to Alabama and to college football in a noon ET announcement that was among the most intriguing in recent gridiron history. In the process of saying hello to the NFL, he didn’t want to do it with the aid of a crutch. He was sending a signal.
But the next few months will be a muddle of mixed signals, because nobody will know for sure how ready one of the best quarterbacks in college history will be to play pro ball in 2020.