Goodbye Teddy

Let me set the scene for you:

It was May 8th, New York City. We were so done with Christian Ponder. We were so done with Matt Cassel. We don’t even SPEAK of the Josh Freeman. We want our quarterback and we want him now.

Minnesota is now on the clock.

 

Pick nine, the only quarterback gone is Bortles, we know who the next should be…

Pick is in. Minnesota selects Anthony Barr, Linebacker- UCLA

 

Collective groan. What are you doing to us Rick?! We need a quarterback!! Wait a minute, the Rams didn’t take Teddy. Wait, neither did the Jets… Surely the Browns will take him right? They took Manziel! He’s not going to make it all the way to our second rounder is he?

 

There has been a trade, Minnesota is now on the clock…

 

Minnesota selects Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback – Louisville

 

(USA Today Sports)

I honestly can’t remember a time I was happier with a pick in my life, we had finally went and got our guy. Someone that was actually touted as a pro ready quarterback (looking at you Ponder). A guy who’s name you won’t find below…

 

Brad Johnson

Tarvaris Jackson

Kelly Holcomb

Brooks Bollinger

Gus Frerotte

Donovan McNabb

Christian Ponder

Joe Webb

Matt Cassel

Josh Freeman

 

That my friends is every warm body we trotted out onto the field (Minus Favre cause he didn’t suck) since we last had our guy, Daunte Culpepper.

Teddy Bridgewater, scrambles for a 13-yard touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) ORG XMIT: MNCN

September 28th, 2014, Teddy Bridgewater makes his first start of his career. 317 yards and rushing touchdown later I was starstruck with Teddy fever. Can you say Super Bowl? Oh wait nevermind, Teddy would be obliterated over and over again all season by the only unit that may rival the previous list of quarterbacks in sucktown, our offensive line. In 29 games with the Vikings, Teddy would be sacked a blistering 83 times. Ball would be snapped and he would be on the run almost immediately behind our 10 cent turnstiles. However, Teddy always made things work, he’d find the hole in the pocket that he could step into to make a clutch pass when we need one the most, he was nicknamed GUMP(Great Under Major Pressure) for a reason. After many comeback wins, a heart wrenching (but easily foreseeable) playoff loss, countless quarterback arguments with Raider fans and an amazing 2016 Pre-Season, everything was looking like it would turn up Vikings.

 

August 30th, 2016.

I was sitting in my cubicle at the call center I was working at excited as all get out for the upcoming season when I noticed the light blinking on my phone telling me I had a new message. A fellow fan had texted me with a very short “Teddy is done for the season”. My jaw, much like most Vikings fans’, hit the floor. Frantically I’m zipping through news sites, reddit and everything else trying to figure out what happened. I’m seeing reports of players puking at the sight of Teddy’s knee, that he could lose his leg, that it was non contact and everything in between. How so VERY Minnesota that Tuesday was. We have the quarterback of the future, super likable and a great leader, coming off a division championship with a top five defense. All of that is torn to pieces as Teddy drops back (something he’s done literally a million times) in a late summer practice and his knee actually explodes. How deliciously Vikings.

 

The rest for Teddy, would actually be history for him in the purple and gold. I and so many others held out so much faith, but due to Keenum’s hot hand and what I can only think of a complete lack of faith in his knee we would only see Teddy run out onto the field one more (and would be last) time.

 

(Associated Press)

Teddy is a natural born leader and his charisma and infectious attitude has us all as believers. I won’t lie, when I saw he had signed the deal with the Jets, my heart really sunk. We had so many ups and downs with the position that it felt SO good to finally have faith in the product we were putting out there. I mean damn, we went TO Lambeau in week 17 and took that division championship from the cheeseheads.

 

I pour this one out for number 5. I will always be a fan of yours, and part of me will always cheer for you no matter what team you are playing for. I hope you tear it up with the Jets and send Tom Brady into retirement. Even though Captain Kirk has landed his enterprise here I can’t help but think of those famous words from renowned intellectual Terrell Owens as you ride of into the sunset – “That’s my quarterback”.

Find me on Twitter @MikeDorry1

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