Former Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater Named to Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame

Former Louisville football quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, the Louisville Sports Commission announced Wednesday.

Bridgewater headlines a four-man 2024 class for the KSHOF. He joins longtime UK journalist and radio analyst Oscar Combs, former UK All-American guard Tony Delk, and Kentucky Wesleyan SID and CoSIDA Hall of Famer Roy Pickerill.

A committee of 16 sports media professionals from throughout the Commonwealth voted on this year’s class, with assistance from the Bygone Era Selection Team. The class will be formally honored later this year in September at Freedom Hall.

Bridgewater is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the Louisville football program. In 39 career games with the Cardinals from 2011 to 2013, he completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 9,817 yards and 72 touchdowns to just 24 interceptions.

His career completion percentage is No. 1 in program history, while his career passing yards and touchdowns are both good for third. He also has the most wins as a starting quarterback in Louisville history with 27, and the most top-25 wins as a starting QB with five.

A four-star prospect in the Class of 2011, Bridgewater was inserted as the starter just a few games into his freshman campaign. By the end of the year, he had completed 64.5 percent of his throws for 2,129 yards and 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, helping Louisville go 7-6 with a berth in the Belk Bowl.

The Miami native broke out the next year as a sophomore, and helped architect one of the best seasons in Louisville history. He was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year during the 2012 season, throwing for 3,718 yards and 27 touchdowns to just eight picks against a 68.5 completion percentage. He guided Louisville to an 11-2 record that season, culminating in arguably the biggest win in school history - a 33-23 upset win over No. 3 Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

As a junior, Bridgewater established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and had one of the best passing seasons in program history. He completed 71.0 percent of his passes for 3,970 yards and 31 touchdowns to only four interceptions, with his completion percentage and passing touchdown mark both program-bests in a single season. He also guided Louisville to a program-record 12-1 mark, including a 36-9 win over Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

After three years at Louisville, Bridgewater declared for the 2014 NFL Draft. While he had at one point been generating buzz to be No. 1 overall pick in the draft, an abnormal heartbeat uncovered during the NFL Combine and an average Pro Day saw him fall to the No. 32 overall pick held by the Minnesota Vikings.

Bridgewater spent the first four years of his career in Minnesota, even being named to the 2015 Pro Bowl. However, a freak leg injury suffered in fall camp ahead of the 2016 season derailed his career trajectory, and the Vikings let him walk as a free agent after his rookie contract ran up.

He spent the next two seasons with the New Orleans Saints, even generating Comeback Player of the Year votes in 2019. His final four years in the league were all spent with a different organization: the Carolina Panthers in 2020, Denver Broncos in 2021, Miami Dolphins in 2022 and most recently the Detroit Lions this past season.

Bridgewater concluded his NFL career with 15,120 passing yards and 75 touchdowns to 47 interceptions. He is now the head coach at his high school alma mater of Miami (Fla.) Northwestern.