Teddy Bridgewater Will Not Participate In Saturday's Senior Day Festivities

The Louisville football player expected to leave behind the biggest shoes to fill after this season won't be one of the ones on the field when U of L fans bid farewell to this year's crops of departing Cardinals.

Charlie Strong said during his Monday press conference that junior quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will not be honored during the senior day festivities before Louisville's last home game against Memphis on Saturday.

"We're not going to even talk about him and saying this is going to be his last game," Strong said. "He's still got another year. He's a junior and he'll make that decision when the time comes."

Despite being widely projected as the No. 1 pick in this coming April's NFL Draft, the buzz around U of L for the last week or so has been that Bridgewater has been openly discussing the idea of returning to Louisville for his senior season. Even though he's set to graduate in December, Teddy is apparently sick at the thought of missing the BCS in his final year as a Cardinal, and would prefer to leave the Derby City with the class he came in with. The idea of competing in the ACC, and a season-opening game against the Miami program he was once committed to, are also factors here.

I'm still putting the odds of Teddy Bridgewater playing another home game inside PJCS after Saturday somewhere in the vicinity of 1-5 percent, but it is refreshing to hear from several people that he's going to take the decision seriously and (when the time comes) struggle with it.

Whether he leaves after this season, after next season or tomorrow, the kid is already not just one of the best to ever do it at Louisville, but one of the most beloved. If Saturday is our last chance to see Teddy play a home game in a Cardinal uniform, I suppose we ought to cherish every second.