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Teddy Bridgewater speaks on Miami Northwestern suspension

IMG_8358by: Andy Villamarzo08/06/25Andy_Villamarzo
Syndication: Palm Beach Post
Former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater coaches his high school football team, Miami Northwestern, as they take on Raines during the Class 3A state championship game.

Having just completed his first practice as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater spoke to media members afterwards and was asked to touch on his Miami Northwestern suspension.

“Miami Northwestern is in a tough neighborhood. Sometimes things can happen when kids are walking home. I was just trying to protect them,” Bridgewater said to media.

“I was just trying to give them a ride home instead of having them take those dangerous walks. But you can see me for the person that I’ve been from the time I arrived in the NFL and the time I arrived at University of Louisville.”

With Bridgewater being suspended just less than a month ago, he was forced to stay away from Miami Northwestern practices while the FHSAA gathered information regarding the allegation into the Bulls. Now with Bridgewater back in the NFL, he hopes they use it as extra motivation on Friday nights.

“I have so many relationships with those young men down in South Florida. The bonds established with Leon Strawder, Calvin Russell, Nick Lennear, Nicholas St. Joseph—just the list goes on and on. It’s a great group of kids, man,” Bridgewater said.

“You know, they see so much hope when they look at me. And I always said it’s food for my soul. It’s the way that I feed my soul and it allows me to stay young being around those kids. So, I think now that I’m back in the league, you know, it actually will to be extra motivation for (the Northwestern players) as well. Because they’ll get to play again one Friday night and they’ll come drive across the state and come watch the Bucs’ game and see coach on the sidelines.”

Bridgewater was asked if there was any changes that he would like to see in the Florida high school football landscape when it pertains to student-athletes who need support can get that necessary support and the former Miami Northwestern head coach said he hopes in the future things will evolve.

“There are a lot of changes you’d like to see, but I guess in due time change will happen,” Bridgewater added. “Until then, man, I can’t change who I am because of the rules. Like… I have a big heart, you know? I get it from my mom and, you know, I just always said that I was once those kids. And 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, rumbling at 12 o’clock in the afternoon because you didn’t have any lunch money or you don’t get the free lunch.

I’ll still give to those kids just because, man, I know what it’s like. And I still give—not only when I say ‘give,’ it’s not even about money. It’s about my time and my presence. Because a lot of time, you see your idol on TV and it’s like, man, I wonder what it’s like to be that person. But when they see me in the flesh, they see how an open-spirited person, happy, when around them. And they—they fit right in with me and I fit in with them. It’s just hope. I live by calling myself the neighborhood hope dealer. I’m hoping that I’m giving hope to everyone back in South Florida, across the state of Florida.”

It was a whirlwind year and a half for Bridgewater during his tenure at his alma mater Miami Northwestern. Bridgewater made an immediate impact for his alma mater, leading the Bulls to its first state title since 2019. Northwestern finished 2024 ranked No. 6 in Florida, according to the Rivals Composite High School Team Rankings.

On Tuesday, the Bulls tabbed alum Jaquatin Victrum as the program’s interim head football coach for the 2025 season. Victrum had previously served as Miami Northwestern’s junior varsity head coach before being promoted on an interim basis to the lead position for the Bulls this upcoming fall.