My Other Talent: Taulia Tagovailoa

After a long day of classes, meetings and practice, Maryland junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa likes to take his mind off everything and unwind. His outlet? The ukulele.

Taulia’s brother, Tua, began teaching him how to play the ukulele when he was in fourth grade and his love of the instrument hasn’t stopped since. While admitting his brother—the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins—is better at playing the ukulele than him because he started earlier, Taulia says he’s always striving to get better at it and there is rarely a night that goes by where he doesn’t play.

“Playing the ukulele slows everything down for me,” said Tagovailoa. “It takes my mind off of everything else going on. It gives me a sense of calm and makes me think of home.”

Taulia was born and raised in Hawaii and the entire Tagovailoa family is extremely proud of their Polynesian culture. Taulia says every time he looks at the ukulele that’s sitting in his room, he’s reminded of his family.

“For the Polynesian culture as a whole, music is everything to us,” explained Tagovailoa. “Whether it’s the ukulele, guitar, piano, any instrument, as long as it makes music, that’s the best way for us to speak.”

Tagovailoa is hoping to take a trip back home to Hawaii this summer to see his family. You can be certain that the piece of wood sticking out of his carry-on bag will be his trusty ukulele.