INDIANAPOLIS _ Of all the college prospects here at the NFL scouting combine, there is no bigger Cowboys fan than Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
He named his two dogs Dallas and Star and continues to be hopeful the Cowboys will make a deep postseason run.
"It's been my family's team," Tagovailoa said Tuesday. "That's all I knew growing up. My dad's dad's dad was a Cowboys fan. I've always wanted to see the Cowboys make the playoffs, win playoff games and go to the Super Bowl. I was just so excited growing up watching the Cowboys."
The Cowboys have the No. 17 overall pick in the draft and don't have an expectation of selecting a quarterback with their first-round pick.
Not that Tagovailoa will be near the middle of the first round, anyway. Several mock drafts project Tagovailoa as a top-five pick.
The Dolphins, with the No. 5 overall pick, have been slated to select him. During the 2019 season, several Dolphins fans started a campaign to "Tank for Tua."
Tagovailoa said he would love to play for the Dolphins or any team that selects him.
However, there is a major health issue he must overcome. He's recovering from hip surgery and doctors expect to clear him March 9 to begin workouts.
Tagovailoa said he'll skip Alabama's pro day on March 24 but will conduct his own on April 9.
After he arrived here for pre-draft meetings and physicals with teams, Tagovailoa said he was the last player to leave the hospital. He arrived at 10 a.m. Monday and didn't leave until 7:49 p.m.
"Mentally it's been a grind, the rehab process has been a grind," he said. "It's not something that's new to me. I've dealt with hand injury, my left ankle and my right ankle, so I know what to expect while going through this process, it's definitely been a process."
Tagovailoa had a difficult decision to make after he injured his hip. After nine games, he had completed 71.4% of his passes and threw 33 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He could have returned for his senior season with the hope of rebuilding his draft stock after his injury.
Instead, Tagovailoa elected to enter the draft and deal with the scrutiny of proving to teams he's healthy enough to play.
"It was hard because, first off, my teammates I would be leaving a lot of the guys that I had built relationships with on the team. With coach (Nick) Saban and coach (Steve Sarkisian) and the guys on the coaching staff I built a great relationship with all of those guys and to leave them, it was hard. That was a hard decision. I sat down and talked to my family about making the decision and I just thought that the NFL, I needed to move on, the next chapter of my life that's the decision."
And while he begins this journey of playing in the NFL, he probably will root for the Cowboys from afar.
"I've always wanted to see the Cowboys make the playoffs and win the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl," Tagovailoa said. "I was just so excited growing up watching the Cowboys."
