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Payton Reflects On Amazing Career Of Former Backup QB
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- Payton Reflects On Amazing Career Of Former Backup QB
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Former Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had an up-and-down career, and the time he spent in Denver was mostly as a backup. But Bridgewater made a big impact on the coaches of every team he played for, including Broncos coach Sean Payton, as he announced his retirement this week.
Payton coached Bridgewater twice, first with the New Orleans Saints , then with the Broncos in 2021, according to the report from Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk . The New Orleans experience was far more significant, but everyone will remember Bridgewater as a quarterback who overcame a grisly injury that should have ended his career but didn't.
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"Our experience, my experience was fantastic," Payton said. "We made a trade for him . . . He was a great asset. A really, really good teammate. He had some rare leadership skills. . . . He was important, he was on our team during a ton of wins.
When Drew [ Brees ] got hurt he went 5-0, and I think he'll find his way back into coaching or some role with football. I'm proud of him, and the type of injury he had was significant, young in his career."
The resilience Bridgewater showed has become instrumental in how Payton evaluates quarterbacks, especially now that he's working with Bo Nix as Nix recovers for a serious ankle injury. He expects the same level of hard work and resilience from his backups, which is why there's now a competition between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger .
Detroit Lions head coach was with the Saints back then as an assistant head coach, and he had Bridgewater in camp this summer as his prospective backup until the retirement announcement. Bridgewater's career spanned over a decade with eight different teams, according to Smith, but it's that five-week stretch that everyone remembers the most.
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"I'll never forget in 2019, when Drew got injured, we had just gone out to the Rams , got beat out there, Drew hurt his thumb and was out five weeks. Teddy stepped in and we won five in a row. That was Teddy," Campbell said.
Bridgewater also took a break and became a high-school coach in Florida, which also landed him briefly in the news back in 2024. His Miami Northwestern team went 12-2 and won a state champsionship, but he was also spending money on his players, many of whom didn't have the money to account for for their basic needs.
That experience resulted in a law change this year that allows coaches to do that with capped levels of spending, which is the essence of the Teddy Bridgewater experience when it comes to helping others.
