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Teddy Bridgewater has become something of a martyr in Florida.
While coaching at Miami Northwestern High School, the former NFL quarterback admitted to providing players with financial benefits, including Uber rides, meal costs, and physical therapy for the team.
Their actions led to their suspension last summer, but they are closer to being legal after a bill was signed in the state.
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Miami Northwestern’s Teddy Bridgewater lifts the state trophy following the team’s victory over Raines in the Class 3A championship on Dec. 14, 2024. (Chet Peterman/ Special to The Post/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Florida lawmakers on Thursday passed Senate Bill 178, the “Teddy Bridgewater Bill,” which requires “the Florida High School Athletic Association to adopt bylaws authorizing a head coach to support the welfare of a student by using personal funds to provide certain effects to the student.”
The bill says the coach must report the use of funds to the association, “provided that such use of personal funds is presumed not to be an impermissible benefit, etc.”
The bill will now move to the Florida House of Representatives.
Speaking to the media last August after signing a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay BuccaneersBridgewater explained his thought process behind the events that led to his suspension.
Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (17) on the sideline in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium on August 25, 2023. (Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports)
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“Honestly, I think everyone knows that I’m just a happy guy, a happy giver too. I’m a protector. First of all, I’m a father,” he began. “When I decided to coach, those players became my children and I wanted to make sure I protected them in the best way possible. I think that’s what emerged.”
He took to social media asking for donations “so I no longer have to take from my personal funds to keep smiles on the faces of these young people and remind them that they matter.”
“Miami Northwestern is in a tough neighborhood and sometimes things can happen when kids are walking home and stuff like that,” Bridgewater said at the time. “So I just tried to protect them, get them home instead of having to take those dangerous walks. I just want people to continue to see myself as the person I’ve been from the time I got to the NFL, from the time I got to the University of Louisville: just a humble guy who has a big heart and a cheerful giver.”
Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is leaving the field in 2023. (Junfu Han/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Bridgewater was a Pro Bowl player in 10 years in the NFL and led the school to a state title.
