Miami Northwestern football legend Teddy Bridgewater’s suspension shocks community – NBC 6 South Florida

Teddy Bridgewater has achieved legend status at Miami Northwestern Senior High School. He was a standout quarterback there, played 10 years in the NFL, and in his first year coaching his alma mater, the Bulls brought home the state title. 

But there’s turmoil now in football paradise. The school suspended Bridgewater for breaking state rules.

What did he do wrong? He spent thousands of his own dollars helping his players. 

When Bridgewater came back to coach the Bulls, he said he did it for the feels. 

“It meant everything to me honestly, I played professional football for the past 10 years, and the joy that I get from just arriving here every day is, it can’t be matched, these kids are so innocent and full of life and I always say it’s food for my soul,” Bridgewater said last December, just before the championship game. 

The good vibes from that victory are gone. By his own admission, Bridgewater paid for Uber rides, meals, and other benefits for his players, all prohibited by the Florida High School Athletic Association. 

Miami-Dade County Public Schools sent us a statement saying in part, “While we recognize the community’s passion for supporting student-athletes and the contributions to the school’s recent athletic success, MDCPS holds all programs to the highest standards of integrity and compliance. The FHSAA has clear guidelines regarding impermissible benefits, and we are committed to upholding those standards across all our athletic programs.” 

On social media, NFL veterans and football writers flooded the zone with supportive posts, epitomized by Joe Schad of ESPN writing, “They should build a Teddy Bridgewater statue.”

There is another issue at play: the fact that Bridgewater coached the team but never went through the background check process, which is mandatory for everyone who deals with kids in the school district, even for parents who volunteer to chaperone field trips. Bridgewater admitted it in a social media post, writing, “I never SIGNED a contract to become a coach or head coach at MNW… it’s not about me coaching, it’s not about the snakes in the building or any adult. It’s SIMPLY ABOUT THE KIDS.” 

He says he’s not done with Miami Northwestern, but it’s unclear what the school could do to bring him back at this point. Sources within the school district said the principal had no choice. To avoid being fined tens of thousands of dollars by the FHSAA and possibly being banned from the playoffs for a season or two, he had to cut Bridgewater loose. 

Bridgewater argues that because he is a volunteer, not an employee, he’s not subject to the FHSAA rules, an argument not likely to fly with the organization that runs Florida high school athletics with an iron fist.