Teddy Bridgewater has officially called it a career, and the veteran quarterback said the decision came down to something as basic as his body no longer holding up the way it once did.
Bridgewater confirmed his retirement on Monday after Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell had told reporters a day earlier that the backup quarterback was going to “step away” from the team. Campbell didn’t flatly say Bridgewater was retiring, but he made clear the situation had reached a point of no return.
“Yeah, I mean, I think only he can truly answer that, but I feel like this is where it’s at for sure right now,” Campbell said. “This is where it needs to be and where he felt. And his biggest worry was letting us down-that’s the type of guy he is-and he’s not.”
Bridgewater then addressed it himself on social media, tying the end of his playing days to the knee injury he suffered 10 years ago.
“It’s so crazy 10 years ago around this time, I suffered one of the most gruesome knee injuries the game itself, it’s players and some doctors had ever seen. Everything football related since 2016 had been fueled by the “experts” predicting that I would never play football again.
We really showed them by playing 10 more seasons! However, this wheel of mine can no longer deal with something so simple as standing around on the turf field.
This thing just doesn’t recover the same way it did years ago so I rather officially hang it up. It’s finally run its course and when the body speaks to me, I have to listen so that I can be in one piece and available for my children as they grow up.
The game of football was beyond great to me and owes me nothing at all. I really did things my way Lol.”
Bridgewater was widely popular in locker rooms, and his retirement message drew a wave of support from teammates, both current and former, who responded with well wishes and love.
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