After suffering a terrible knee injury ahead of the 2016 NFL season, many thought Teddy Bridgewater would never play football again. So as the Panthers quarterback reflected on his journey and his first start since 2015 ahead of Carolina’s season opener against the Raiders, Teddy told us he was overcome with emotion.
“Man, you know it was an emotional feeling. When they sang the Negro National Anthem, I shed so many tears I had to run off the field a little early,” Bridgewater said when Carolina Blitz asked him to share what emotions he felt ahead of Sunday’s game. “I was just thinking about man just the process, the journey and what all it took for me to get back to this stage. But you know, it was bittersweet. We didn’t come up with the win, but it’s great being able to start for a franchise who believes in me. And I wanted to make sure that I cherished that moment, so just going out there and playing today. Obviously, there are some things that I would like to clean up and be better with moving forward. We can’t be discouraged like coach said so we’re just going to take it one day at a time, come in tomorrow with a new mindset.”
Bridgewater finished the game with 270 passing yards and one touchdown after completing 22-of-34 attempts. He posted with a 98.9 passer rating. He added 26 rushing yards on four attempts.