Just weeks after leading Miami Northwestern to a title, Teddy Bridgewater returns to the NFL
Teddy Bridgewater is back.
Just weeks after coaching Miami Northwestern to the Florida Class 3A state championship, Bridgewater will sign to the Detroit Lions’ active roster, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This comes just days after Bridgewater indicated his desire to return to NFL sidelines.
“That’s the plan,” the 32-year-old Bridgewater told Rapoport and fellow NFL insider Tom Pelissero last Tuesday. “My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Bridgewater played for several teams — the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins — during his 10-year career but spent his final season with the Lions in 2023. Lions coach Dan Campbell had high praise for Bridgewater on Thursday.
“It was something that was always potentially a possibility,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of Bridgewater’s return, later adding that he “brings a level of professionalism, veteran presence” before calling him “somebody who’s great for our team. Great for our position.”
After retirement, he quickly signed on as head coach at his alma mater Miami Northwestern, leading them to Division 3A Florida High School Athletic Association title in his first season.
“This [experience] taught me patience,” Bridgewater told the Miami Herald after the win. “When you’re working with 14-year olds, 15, 16, 17-year olds and coming from the NFL, you have to remember, they might not get it on the first try. They might not get it on the second, third or fourth or fifth try. But if you stay patient with them and really teach them the why for everything, the rest will take care of itself.”
After starting 12 games as a rookie, Bridgewater led the Vikings to a 11-5 record as a sophomore, earning his sole Pro Bowl appearance. A torn ACL before the start of the 2016 season kept him out the entire year. Brigdgewater spent the next three seasons trying to regain his form in Minnesota and New Orleans before ultimately signing with the Panthers, where started 15 games.
Bridgewater was subsequently traded to the Broncos in 2021 and started 14 games. He then spent the next two seasons in Miami and Detroit before his retirement at the end of 2023.
The newest Lions quarterback has completed roughly 66% of his passes for more than 15,000 yards and 75 touchdowns throughout his career. Bridgewater also has ran for nearly 850 yards and 11 touchdowns.
This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 12:54 PM.
