The NFL waiver wire never sleeps, not even on the sleepy morning after Christmas. And so on Thursday, the Detroit Lions made a surprising announcement when they added an active high school football coach to their roster.
Of course, this isn't any high school football coach. It's former NFL quarterback-turned-Miami Northwestern head coach Teddy Bridgewater, who will join the club for the stretch run of the season less than two weeks after capping his first season in coaching with a Class 3A state championship.
A former first-round pick out of Louisville, Bridgewater battled through a severe, career-altering knee injury early in his NFL journey to carve out a niche for himself in the league. He played 10 seasons for the Vikings, Jets, Saints, Panthers, Broncos, Dolphins and Lions before retiring after the 2023 campaign, only to return on Thursday as a backup to Jared Goff.
"To be able to add somebody back here that's got experience. He's staying in shape, he's been throwing, just get him worked back in here a little bit," head coach Dan Campbell said Thursday. "It just brings a level of professionalism, veteran presence, somebody that's great for our team, great for the position... This gives us somebody that's played a lot in the NFL -- we're getting ready for the playoffs -- and so it'll be good to get him back in the fold with us."
Bridgewater told the NFL Network earlier this week he intended to return to Miami Northwestern at the end of the NFL season.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “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.”
Officially, the plan will be for Bridgewater not to play, as he serves as a coach-in-pads for Goff as the club attempts to win its first Super Bowl. But high school coach-turned-Super Bowl-winning quarterback in the same season sounds like a career move only Teddy Bridgewater could pull off.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.