Sunday's Dolphins-Browns showdown will mark a historical moment, as starting quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Dillon Gabriel will be the first lefties to face off in the NFL since 2006
22:54 ET, 18 Oct 2025Updated 22:54 ET, 18 Oct 2025
Dillon Gabriel
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Dillon Gabriel has two NFL starts for the Browns(Image: Getty Images)
Sunday's matchup between the Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns is set to make history. Starting quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa - who made headlines for his controversial post-game remarks last week - and Dillon Gabriel will become the first left-handed signal-callers to square off since Michael Vick battled Chris Simms in 2006.
This marks just the 24th southpaw-versus-southpaw showdown since handedness records began in 1950. Their encounter will also represent the first time two quarterbacks hailing from Hawaii will take the field as starters in the same game.
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Remarkably, Tagovailoa and Gabriel actually faced each other during their high school days back in 2016. Gabriel, who gets the nod after Cleveland shipped Joe Flacco to division rivals the Cincinnati Bengals, earned high marks from his fellow Hawaiian ahead of their upcoming battle.
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"He's a smooth thrower," Tagovailoa remarked about the Browns quarterback during the week. "I knew of him as he was growing up. I might have played him one year, as he was a freshman playing varsity.
"Then, he went into college and did his thing. He's a smooth thrower, can run, sees the field really well and he's a Hawaii boy, so you always have to support the guys from back home."
Back in 2016, Gabriel's Mililani High School took on Tagovailoa's Saint Louis School for a quarter before the game was halted due to a power outage.
Both Gabriel (second) and Tagovailoa (fourth) feature among the top five passing leaders from Hawaii quarterbacks. Gabriel, 24, was a First-team All-American last season at Oregon and tied former Houston quarterback Case Keenum for the most touchdown passes in NCAA FBS history.
Tua Tagovailoa is arguably the most-known lefty in the NFL
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Tua Tagovailoa is arguably the most-known lefty in the NFL(Image: Getty Images)
Through two starts (and a chunk of garbage time), the Browns' signal callers have completed 57.3% of their passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns.
Tagovailoa was once hailed as the best college quarterback in the nation during his time at Alabama. He's blossomed into a Pro Browler at the NFL level and has completed 69.8% of his passes for 1213 yards with an 11-7 touchdown-interception ratio in 2025.
Gabriel spoke about his comparisons to Tagovailoa ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. "There are very few of us [lefties], which is cool," he said.
"It's a differentiator. It makes us different.
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But I think more than that, there are different playing styles, a great person to be compared to, of course, a guy I've watched growing up, and has had a bunch of success.