Manti Te'o emotional when talking about 'brother' Tua Tagovailoa suffering another concussion

Manti Te'o refers to Tua Tagovailoa as a "brother." He calls Tagovailoa's parents "uncle" and "auntie."

When asked Friday on " Good Morning Football " about Tagovailoa suffering another concussion during the Dolphins' 31-10 loss to Buffalo Thursday night , Te'o got emotional, his eyes watering and his voice cracking.

"That was, um … That was hard," he said, taking long pauses as tears started welling in his eyes.

"People have to understand, this is just a game. And then there's life. When you watch, when you watch a young man that you've known since a little boy go out there ... Is it hard for me? Yeah. But I can't imagine how hard it is for Uncle Galu and Auntie Diane watch their son, again, go down."

Te'o and Tagovailoa are from Honolulu. Te'o, 33, was in college when he started hearing about Tagovailoa. He now consider himself family.

Te'o, who recently joined the the NFL Network, was asked by show host Kyle Brandt for his thoughts after seeing Tagovailoa suffer another concussion. Tagovailoa was injured in the third quarter when he took off with the football and went down after running into Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa's head and then shoulder slammed into Hamlin's midsection before the quarterback fell to the ground.

The Dolphins quickly announced Tagovailoa was out with a concussion , the fourth head trauma suffered by Tagovailoa, 26, in the last two years, including a third diagnosed concussion.

Tagovailoa went into a fencing response while on the ground, an involuntary posture that can occur after a concussion, just as he did two years ago at Cincinnati. That night he was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to the hospital. Thursday, he walked off the field and was taken home by his family.

"After he suffered the one against the Bengals, I wanted him to walk," Te'o said. "When I saw him having to be carted off the field, I wanted him to walk."

Te'o suffered concussions during his playing career

Te'o played in the NFL for eight years after a career at Notre Dame. He referenced his concussions, including one late in the first half of a playoff game in Denver in January 2014 while playing for the Chargers. Te'o said he has no recollection of walking off the field and did not "wake up" until two minutes remained in the game.

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"I don't even know if Tua's there as he's walking off the field," he said.

"To see my brother, Tua, go down like that, it really just makes me … I want the best for Tua, the man. He's a father of two now. I want him to be able, not today, but 10, 15, 20 years down the line, to be able to raise his children, be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. That's what I want for Tua. That's true joy.

"I didn't mean to get emotional on the show, it was big for a family member to watch him go through that again and I'm just so grateful the NFL community has rallied around Tua. I just hope for my little brother he sees, and he understands, knowing his makeup, he understands what's important in life. And I just hope he makes the right decision."

Te'o gave no advice to Tagovailoa when it comes to his career.

"I'm not saying step away from the game," Te'o said. "As a brother I just want the best for you and whatever that looks like for Tua and the Tagovailoa family, that's what I want for him."

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Manti Te'o emotional when talking about 'brother' Tua Tagovailoa suffering another concussion