Teddy Bridgewater retiring from NFL to coach high school football and 'pay it forward'

"Teddy Two Gloves" is about to become "Teddy Headset."

Detroit Lions backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is following through on what he told the Free Press in December: He is retiring from playing in the NFL to coach high school football.

News broke Friday morning Bridgewater will return to coach his high school alma mater Miami Northwestern.

Bridgewater, 31, told Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett in December that for now, he has no interest coaching in college or the NFL — "I don't like the hours."

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"I’m going to go coach high school football next year and I’ll probably come to their (Lions) practice and mess with Hendon (Hooker)," Bridgewater said. "I always tell the people at the games, the security who wear the yellow shirts and red shirts, I always joke with them, I say, 'next year, I’m going to come to a game with some cleats on and I’m going to run on the field, see if you can catch me.'"

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Hooker was drafted in the third round last April coming off knee surgery, and served as the team's emergency third QB at the end of the season. Hooker attached himself to Bridgewater while learning the offense.

Bridgewater was signed late in training camp in August to provide an experienced backup to Jared Goff. Bridgewater was never needed in a game, only taking a few kneel-downs in October against Carolina, as Goff stayed healthy for all 17 regular season games. Goff led the Lions to a 12-5 record and two playoff wins, before the team suffered a second-half collapse and lost in the NFC championship game.

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Bridgewater retires after spending 10 seasons in an up-and-down NFL journey. He was the No. 32 overall pick out of Louisville by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 draft, and helped them go 11-5 in his second season, winning the NFC North and earning a Pro Bowl berth. But he suffered a career-altering, gruesome non-contact knee injury in a late August practice just before the 2016 season, and essentially missed the next two seasons.

He started 37 games from 2018-22 between New Orleans, Carolina, Denver and Miami, before joining the Lions. He finishes his career with a 33-32 record as a starter, 75 touchdowns, 47 interceptions and a 66.4% completion percentage across 79 games.

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Now, Bridgewater is heading home to where it all started, to pave the way for other young kids, and that is important to him.

"It means a lot to me just cause that’s my foundation," Bridgewater told the Free Press in December. "And that’s who I leaned on when I had my darkest times in my career and they’ve been there, they’ve known me longer than anyone, watched me grow. So it just means the world to me to pay it back and pay it forward to the next wave of Teddy Bridgewaters, Maurice Alexanders, Tutu Atwells, Calijah Kanceys. Just different guys, it’s food for my soul. They motivate me whenever I go back home, even if I’m not playing, it’s just, they’re happy to see me in the flesh cause growing up, we always saw the people on TV, we never saw them in person, so for me it means a lot for them to see me in the flesh because I know it goes a long way for them."

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Teddy Bridgewater named Miami HS coach, ready to 'pay it forward'