Teddy Bridgewater Does the Thing
He’s still young enough to be a quarterback in the NFL, but because of a decision to retire 11 months ago, former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is now a champion high school football coach.
Teddy Bridgewater Does the Thing
Bridgewater’s alma mater, Miami Northwestern Senior High School, won the class 3A title over the weekend, stomping William Raines Senior High, 41-0. Raines, too, was previously undefeated.
Before Bridgewater took over the program this season, Northwestern showcased a 4-6 record in 2023. The ex-Viking fundamentally turned the program around in one year to the tune of a state title.
Bridgewater caught onlookers off guard about a month ago when he teased an NFL comeback. He has the NFL itch. He tweeted in November, “So many QB jobs available for me after we make this state title run. I can’t wait to return back to the NFL 🙏🏾💯.”
The post surprised many because most believed he was gone for good. He seems to love his new arrangement as the skipper of his high school team, but at the age of 32, a comeback is more than possible, especially if a prominent quarterback fell injured in the NFL sometime in the next few weeks.
The Detroit Lions, for example, Bridgewater’s most recent NFL employer, could make sense if QB1 Jared Goff encountered an injury.
Bridgewater didn’t throw a single pass in 2023 before retiring in January, filling QB2 duty for Goff in Detroit. But the Lions would’ve been in safe hands had Bridgewater been called upon, classified as one of the NFL’s top QB2s. All told in Bridgewater’s starting career, teams were 33-32 (.507) on his watch.
The Miami Dolphins were Bridgewater’s previous employer before Detroit, as he served as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup in 2022. This was Bridgewater’s career resume:
- Minnesota Vikings (2014–2017)
- New York Jets (2018)
- New Orleans Saints (2018–2019)
- Carolina Panthers (2020)
- Denver Broncos (2021)
- Miami Dolphins (2022)
- Detroit Lions (2023-present)
Minnesota chose Bridgewater in Round 1 of the 2014 NFL Draft as the then-long-term plan for the quarterback of the future. Bridgewater took over during his maiden voyage season and immediately looked the part. A season later, combined with Mike Zimmer’s flourishing defense, Minnesota won the NFC North in 2015, and life was good. But the summer of 2016 was a different story. Bridgewater suffered a horrifying knee injury right before the start of the regular season, then-GM Rick Spielman traded a 1st-Round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sam Bradford, and Bridgewater’s career was forever changed. So was Vikings history.
Bridgewater was arguably in prime form during a couple of spots in his career. First, in 2015, he earned Pro Bowl honors in just his second campaign, guiding the Vikings to that 2015 playoff appearance that was eventually marred by a missed 27-yard game-winning field goal against the Seattle Seahawks. When he landed with the Saints, Drew Brees was hurt for multiple games in 2019 — and the Saints were undefeated to the tune of 5-0 with Bridgewater in charge. That was the second peak of his ten-season career.
In the postseason, with Bridgewater’s career complete — assuming he doesn’t come out of retirement — his only playoff start occurred in the aforementioned 2015 season when Minnesota lost to the Seattle Seahawks.
But now, Bridgewater owns the irreversible title of high school state champion as a head coach.
Sunday Was Rather Kind to Vikings
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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