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Teddy Bridgewater was made available to the media Friday afternoon, and discussed his recent college graduation as well as the decision about his future that he plans to make after the Russell Athletic Bowl.
The C-J has the video:
You should probably listen to all 13 minutes, but if you can't, here are the money quotes:
--"My whole thing coming into the season was that I wanted to be able to focus on this season. I knew I'd have a decision to make once the season was over, but I wanted to make it through the season first and then take care of what's down the road."
--"Right now I'm here at the University of Louisville, and that's my primary focus."
--"I've become a better person than I was when I arrived here. I feel that I've matured and learned to accept responsibility and hold myself accountable and my teammates accountable, and just become a man. Coach Strong always talks about, 'you come in a boy and leave a man,' and I felt like I was able to do that."
--"Even though we didn't reach where we wanted to go, we're still proud of ourselves. We're one of only five teams with 11 wins. At the end of the day, it's bigger than ourselves. It's about the name that we wear across the front of our jerseys: the University of Louisville."
--"I've learned to live life with purpose, and I've still got a lot to prove. In this bowl game I'm going to continue to lead with conviction. I'm not going to change anything and just show everyone that they shouldn't have counted us out."
Perhaps more telling than any of that, however, is what Bridgewater tweeted Friday night:
Sacrificed a lot of personal glory for the people around because I've always been apart of something much bigger than myself. It's my time.
— Teddy Bridgewater (@teddyb_h2o) December 21, 2013
Even though he said earlier in the day to not read too much into a tweet, I think we'd all be best served by approaching Dec. 28 as if it's going to be the last time we're privileged enough to watch Teddy Bridgewater don the red and black.