Just nine months ago newly signed Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater led his high school alma mater Miami-Northwestern to an eighth state championship. The win over Raines High (Jacksonville) capped a 12-2 season which featured winning ten straight to end the season.
Everything seemed calm on the homefront as the offseason progressed, and then news broke of Bridgewater being suspended for providing impermissible benefits to his team. That included providing meals, transportation (like Uber rides), and recovery services for players, which are against Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) rules.
Bridgewater Moves On, But It Wasn’t Easy
Just weeks after saying he wasn’t gonna let the matter force him to leave, and the high school season approaching, and seemingly no end in sight as it pertains to the investigation that’s taking place, Bridgewater, the former first round pick from Louisville, has moved on. But not before he expounded on the situation in a recent media session with the Bucs.
“I’m protective, and I’m a father first before anything,” said Bridgewater, who was suspended by the school. “Those players became my sons.”
“Miami Northwestern is in a tough neighborhood. Sometimes things can happen when kids are walking home. I was just trying to protect them,” said Bridgewater.
What the 2013 Sugar Bowl MVP Bridgewater is alleged to have done at a school where 75 percent of the students fall under the economically disadvantaged category and 72 percent receive free lunches is take matters into his own hands by using his own NFL earnings he accrued over his then ten-year career.
Bridgewater Would Do It All Over Again
“I can’t change who I am because of the rules. I have a big heart, I get it from my mom,” Bridgewater said. His mother, Rose Murphy, spent years working for Miami-Dade County Schools. “I was once those kids. I know what it’s like to be in their shoes. I know what it’s like to walk those halls at Miami Northwestern and to have your stomach growling and rumbling at 12 o’clock in the afternoon because you didn’t have any lunch money or you don’t get the free lunch. So I can’t change who I am.”
For Bridgewater it hits home because he’s from these same neighborhoods, so instead sticking to the norm of following rules, he deviated and did what was in the best interest of his players.
Bridgewater Came Back To NFL In January
Following his state championship win in December, Bridgewater signed with the Detroit Lions for what most believed was a Super Bowl-caliber team. The plan was to join the Lions as an insurance policy for the playoffs and then return back to Miami-Northwestern once the Lions season ended abruptly, when Bridgewater would go back to coaching. Now, with the monkey wrench thrown in his plan, Teddy B has taken his talents back to the NFL.
