Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Dolphins will be a homecoming for Teddy Bridgewater. The rookie quarterback was born and raised in Miami before developing into a top recruit and leaving his home state for the Louisville Cardinals.
On Wednesday, Bridgewater went through his typical routine, which included a brief press conference with reporters to preview the upcoming game.
Teddy Bridgewater on back to Miami: "I'm pretty loved back in Miami. A lot of people think I'm a role model there.''
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 17, 2014
Bridgewater unsure how many family and friends will be in stands. His mother handles ticket requests.
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) December 17, 2014
A 2013 Miami Herald profile of Bridgewater in advance of a Louisville-Miami bowl game did a great job of expressing how loved Bridgewater is by the South Floridian community; specifically, his former high school coach, Billy Rolle, who talked about his former all-state quarterback’s nicknames, one of which is “Teddy Bear.”
“I’ve got to go with ‘The General’ or ‘The Professor’ or ‘The Surgeon,’ Rolle said of Bridgewater. “But mostly he’s just plain old ‘Bear.”
“All these good things couldn’t happen to a better kid.’’
Bridgewater continues to get better as a rookie. Check out his statistical splits from Weeks 1-8 and 9-15, courtesy of Darren Page.
Teddy's development is right on schedule, maybe even ahead: http://t.co/XqxpfJsdWz #Vikings pic.twitter.com/OuYIf0Qa2y
— dp (@qbwins) December 16, 2014
His game against the Lions on Sunday, a 16-14 loss, was marred by interceptions on back-to-back passes; but he still set an NFL rookie record by completing 75.6 percent of his passes, ESPN reports. The record is based on games in which rookie quarterbacks attempt a minimum of 40 passes. Bridgewater finished 31-of-41 for 315 yards.
One more note on Bridgewater. His favorite player growing up in Miami was then-Packers quarterback Brett Favre.
Teddy: Says that Brett Favre was his favorite quarterback as a kid. #Vikings
— Aj Mansour (@AjKFAN) December 17, 2014
