Is Tua A Little too honest?

One of my favorite Billy Joel songs is the song “Honesty” (it’s such a lonely word, everyone is so untrue…) 

I have that problem, the problem of being too honest and even though I rather be Honest than be a Lier both can be an issue. There is an idiom “Don’t show all of your cards” in a poker game it would not be wise to let people see your hand beforehand. 

There truly is such a thing as being too honest and Tua latest admission that he for a moment thought about retirement just might be a perfect example where I would say that might have been a little too much information. 

In the case of beating a horse that just will not die Dolphin’s star QB is in the news again after he was asked if he ever thought about retiring last season after suffering multiple concussions and he gave an honest answer Tua said yes, he did contemplate retirement for a brief moment. 

He said: 

“I considered it for a time, having sat down with my family, having sat down with my wife and having those kind of conversations, but it will be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am,” (25 years old) 

“I always dreamed of playing as long as I could to where my son knew exactly what he was watching his dad do. It’s my health. It’s my body. I feel like this is what’s best for me and my family. I love the game of football, if I didn’t, I would have quit a long time [ago].” 

On the surface, it does not seem like a bad answer because naturally he should have thought about it and done exactly what he did, to talk to his loved ones about it. After having those conversations then it is HIS DECISION to make. 

Honesty can be a double edge sword that can hurt you or others. The term “Brutally Honest” is the kind of honesty that “Tells it like it is” regardless of one’s feelings. Is there such a thing as a little honesty? Is not divulging everything lying? Sometimes we can give a little (TMI) “Too Much Information” 

Now the media who can’t get enough of Tua talk/bashing is all up in arms about his answer that no matter how he answered would have created chicken fodder. 

You have your usual suspect former Jets player Keyshawn Johnson who is always on the side that Tua should hang it up, because he is concerned about Tua’s long-term health (sarcasm) and you have others like Dan Orlovsky who always have Tua’s back. We should always choose our words carefully and consider the feelings of the people we are talking to or the audience or platform we are speaking to. 

Tua told the truth when he answered the reporter’s question about contemplating retirement, and he correctly stated that It’s my health. It’s my body. In whatever his decision would be. He could have just said NO to the question and even that would have drawn criticism. 

Yes, there is such a thing as being “Too Honest”, but I do not think Tua’s answer was too honest and, in a world, today where “Honesty Is Such a Lonely Word” it is truly refreshing that we have a young mature QB that chooses his words thoughtfully and carefully.