Hawaiian QB Tua Tagovailoa takes home top prizes at The Opening

Video: Highlights of Day 2 at The Opening.
Acrobatic catches and celebrations, fierce one-on-one battles in the trenches and stellar quarterback play highlight action in Oregon.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — Tua Tagovailoa posed for a few more snap shots late Sunday afternoon at Nike World Headquarters while cradling three plaques along his muscular arms.

If his forearms weren't tired, his cheekbones most certainly. He'd been flashing a $-million smile for hours. Who could blame him?

The incoming senior quarterback at St. Louis (Honolulu, Hawaii) simply couldn't have had a better week at The Opening finals, the prestigious football showcase featuring 166 of the top players in the country. He did it in front of approximately two dozen family members and friends, who Sunday were all clad in red shirts that displayed his name.

Oh, and there were all those college coaches, his peers, an army of recruiting reporters and a national television audience. Like his accurate and crisp passes during two days of 7-on-7 tournament play, his timing was impeccable. No wonder he collected all the important hardware.



Then again, asked the specific awards he actually won and the chiseled 6-foot-1, 215-pound Alabama commit shook his head.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you," said the vivacious 17-year-old.

One was for winning the Most Valuable Player of the Elite 11, the longtime national quarterback competition that concludes annual on conjunction with with The Opening. 

Another was earned for winning the MVP of the 7-on-7 Tournament. His team, Vapor Speed, captured the title with three playoff wins Sunday, including a 38-20 victory over Fly Rush in the championship.

Tagovailoa all but sewed up both MVP awards by tossing four touchdown — all to different receivers — and three conversion passes in the first half as Vapor Speed sped to a 30-0 lead.

Each of the 21 players on the championship team received a plaque and five players besides Tagovailoa have also committed to Alabama, including the nation's No. 1 recruit, running back Najee Harris, of Antioch (Calif.).



Roll Tide.

"More than winning trophies or MVPs, the most important thing I accomplished here was building bonds with my teammates, my future teammates and fellow quarterbacks that will last a lifetime," he said.

Harris said besides being a great guy with great mechanics, Tagovailoa, a left-hander, also makes great reads. "He has all the tools," Harris said. "He's an awesome person. We connect."

All-Tournament selection Jerry Jeudy, an uncommitted 6-1, 180-pound receiver from Deerfield Beach (Fla.), caught two touchdowns, one also from Chris Robison, of Horn (Mesquite, Texas).

Jeudy has 32 college offers, but Alabama appears at the top of his list. He wouldn't say if strong connection with Tagovailoa will sway him, but it won't hurt.

"He just puts the ball in the right places," Jeudy said.



Tagovailoa, a devout Christian, said a fellow St. Louis alum, Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Marioto paved the way for him to play the position.

"Marcus broke down barriers for Polynesian players," Tagovailoa said. "He let us know that we could be more than an offensive or defensive lineman."

Tagovailoa first met Marioto in the fourth grade and has idolized him ever since. "He's such an amazing person," Tagovailoa said. "Everything you see portrayed on TV and in the media is really him. He's so authentic."

So is Tagovailoa, say his Vapor Speed teammates. His ranking as the No. 60 recruit overall from the Class of 2017 should rise. He's considered the second best dual-threat quarterback in the country. He showed he may be the best leaders.

Tagovailoa wants greatly to make it all the way to the NFL. If he does, he vows not necessarily to buy his family nice things, "but to build a church. That's the first thing I would do."