Teddy Bridgewater posts heartfelt retirement message after leaving Lions

After 11 years in the NFL, former Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has decided to hang up his cleats. But he couldn’t do so before sending one final message to those that have followed his career.

Bridgewater entered training camp with Lions, before deciding to step away. For as much as football gave to him, the one-time Pro Bowler knew that it was the right moment for him to officially retire.

“This time it’s official,” Bridgewater’s Instagram post read. “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,” he contiued. “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.”

Originally a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings, Bridgewater went on to appear in 83 games at the NFL level. He went 33-32 over his 53 games as a starter, throwing for 15,182 yards, 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions. He added another 848 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, being named to his lone Pro Bowl in 2015.

Bridgewater played for seven different franchises over his career. That is a testament to how the NFL at large felt about his abilities and who he was as a person.

Now, the quarterback is satisfied and ready to walk away on his terms. A scary early-career injury wasn’t enough to dim Bridgewater’s shine.

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