![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Pirates-QB-rotated.jpeg\")
Former University of Maryland star quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is now a member of the Lowell-based Massachusetts Pirates. (Jason Cooke photo)<\/p>\nNORTH ANDOVER \u2014 He was planted in a quarterback room headlined by star signal-callers Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa.<\/p>\n
But on Tuesday afternoon, the former star college quarterback at Alabama and Maryland was seen slinging the football at a Massachusetts Pirates practice.<\/p>\n
Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, will now be taking to the turf at the Tsongas Center as a member of the Pirates after signing with the team last week.<\/p>\n
The Pirates return to Lowell on Thursday to host the Iowa Barnstormers at 7:05 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m blessed to be in this position I\u2019m at right now being with the Mass. Pirates,\u201d Taulia Tagovailoa said. \u201cGreat organization, and an organization that has won championships in the past and stuff like that. I\u2019m just looking forward to learning more, and any way I can help this team win another championship. That\u2019s what I came here to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pirates\u2019 QB depth chart may not look like Alabama\u2019s in 2019, but Tagovailoa will complement Kenji Bahar as the Lowell-based Indoor Football League squad (6-6) prepares for a late-season playoff push.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe obviously think very highly of him,\u201d said Pirates president and general manager Jawad Yatim. \u201cHe\u2019s an excellent ballplayer, and he\u2019s extremely skilled. He\u2019s picked up the game pretty quickly, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 6-foot, 208 pounds, Tagovailoa hauls a laundry list of collegiate accolades and experience to the Mill City. After appearing in five games as a true freshman at Alabama \u2014 completing 9 of 12 passes for a touchdown \u2014 behind his brother and Jones, an eventual New England Patriots first-round draft choice, Tagovailoa transferred to Maryland, where he owns just about every record in the history books.<\/p>\n
The Hawaii native left the Maryland campus as the Big Ten All-Time passing leader while holding a plethora of school records, headlined by passing yards (11,256), completions (955) and passing touchdowns (76). His 15 300-yard passing games and single-season completion percentage (69.2%) are also school bests.<\/p>\n
After a decorated four-year career, he attended National Football League rookie minicamps with the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals last year before signing with the Canadian Football League\u2019s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He most recently played with the Hamburg Sea Devils of the European Football League, totaling 315 yards and three touchdowns in two games as the starter.<\/p>\n
Tagovailoa is excited about the opportunity presented in Lowell, where he\u2019ll look to climb back up the professional ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everything that I\u2019ve been showing in college and even my little time in the CFL and Germany as well, I feel like me using my legs and with my arm talent and stuff like that, I think it could be a good benefit to this team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tagovailoa certainly has a load of high-level football experience on his resume to do just that, starting with his season at Alabama. That year, Tua Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending injury in November before Jones took over under center en route to an 11-2 finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it was a great experience at Alabama,\u201d Taulia Tagovailoa said. \u201cI learned a lot of stuff, and it was cool for me to play with my brother. That was a blessing. I got to learn a lot, learn how college football is and honestly learn how to be a pro.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former University of Maryland star quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is now a member of the Lowell-based Massachusetts Pirates. (Jason Cooke photo)<\/p>\n
Playing alongside his brother was the highlight. His brother would soon hear his name called in the 2020 NFL draft as the fifth overall selection to the Dolphins. He left Alabama as the all-time program leader in career touchdowns (96). He boasted a 22-2 record as the starter and was a runner-up for the Heisman in 2018.<\/p>\n
In the NFL, Tua Tagovailoa has played 64 games across five seasons for the Dolphins while battling concussions, including a career-best season in 2023 that yielded 4,624 passing yards and 29 touchdowns. He\u2019s known for his success against the Patriots, posting a 7-0 record against the divisional foe.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing him live his dream out, as a younger brother, I couldn\u2019t do nothing but be happy for him,\u201d Taulia Tagovailoa said. \u201cLiving out his dream, and he\u2019s a good example for me and other kids coming out from Hawaii. He\u2019s doing it right. For me, I\u2019m just trying to look up to him and try to get to where he\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pirates have a history of offering players opportunities at the next level. Earlier this season, Chelmsford\u2019s Sal Lupoli Jr. received an invite to attend Patriots\u2019 rookie minicamp after a stint with the Pirates.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy coming to the Pirates, you give yourself a real chance to do that,\u201d Yatim said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s been a pitching point of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is to be seen whether Tagovailoa will replace Bahar at any point in the remaining four regular season games. Bahar has amassed a seventh-best 1,438 passing yards within the league this season while adding 25 touchdowns, recently spearheading the Pirates to a four-game winning streak. In that span, he dished 15 touchdown throws.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very comfortable with that room right now between Kenji, who\u2019s been playing pretty great lately, and then Taulia, as well,\u201d Yatim said. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely comfortable with that group. We feel like we can beat anybody with either quarterback under center, and that\u2019s a good place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Tagovailoa has been a quick study of the offense Bahar has begun to master.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a blessing for me to come in and learn,\u201d he said. \u201cArena football is definitely different. The field is smaller, the rules are different and (Bahar) just takes me under his wing and helps me out.\u201d<\/p>\n
But if Tagovailoa were to take some snaps this season, he\u2019s prepared to give the Lowell audience a show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my play style is really pretty electric,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see fireworks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORTH ANDOVER \u2014 He was planted in a quarterback room headlined by star signal-callers Mac Jones and Tua…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,30175,8225,4247,38589,36032,49,48,9,38590],"class_list":{"0":"post-175315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-indoor-football-league","10":"tag-keywee","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-lowell","13":"tag-massachusetts-pirates","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-football","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-taulia-tagovailoa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114783116591233262","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}