Teddy Bridgewater On The Dan Patrick Show

Spoiler alert: he's awesome. Second spoiler alert: the questioner brings up Louisville's schedule in a negative light. I'll have to do some Google searching, but I believe he's the first national voice to do so.

For those of you who can't watch the video (at work, at school, taking a stand against YouTube, etc.), here's the transcript:

Q: You got classes today, Teddy?

Teddy: No classes on Friday.

Q: Oh nice, not bad. What's your major?

Teddy: Sports administration.

Q: What are you gonna do with that?

Teddy: I wanted to be a sports agent at one point, but now I think I just want to get into the, you know, being an athletic director on the high school level.

Q: Could you be your own agent?

Teddy: Not really because you have to go to law school, so that's not possible.

Q: I think it's been a great story, and I happened upon your play last year, and you just sort of reminded me of Steve McNair. The feel, the toughness; you playing injured. Who was your quarterbacking idol growing up?

Teddy: I was a big Brett Favre fan, and Charlie Ward. I like Brett Favre because of his toughness, and, you know, that's something I try to idolize.

Q: And why Charlie Ward?

Teddy: I was able to catch some of his games when he was still at Florida State, and I was just a big fan of the way he played. He was able to be in control of the game, and that's something I try to do.

Q: But you were gonna go to Miami. Did you ever consider Florida State?

Teddy: No, I never did.

Q: Was it the coaching change with Randy Shannon or you would have gone to Miami?

Teddy: Yeah. Around that time, the program was on the downfall, and I just wanted a new start. Somewhere where I could go make an impact right away.

Q: But why Louisville?

Teddy: It was just the atmosphere. On my visit I attended a basketball game and the fans were chanting my name. And on my visit the coaches were so genuine. That right there was when it dawned on me and my mother.

Q: Your mother's been your inspiration, speaking about tough. Speak about what she's meant to you.

Teddy: She's pretty much meant the world to me. I always say everything I do for here because she's sacrificed so much, and not just for me, but my other siblings growing up. She always made a way for us, so I always just try to give back to her by doing what I'm doing now.

Q: What are you gonna give to her when you get to the NFL?

Teddy: When I was in 3rd grade I promised her that I would get her a pink escalade truck with some pink rims, and to this day she still remembers that.

Q: Does she still want the pink escalade?

Teddy: Oh yeah, no doubt.

Q: You know, you could give her a Heisman Trophy too.

Teddy: (Laughs) That's something...that'll play for itself.

Q: How important is it though?

Teddy: It's not important to me at all. Football is a team sport. I play the game for the team awards and the team success. That's something that I don't pay much attention to at all.

Q: Give us a sense of the environment you grew up in. What was Miami like?

Teddy: Miami, it was a pretty rough area. My family, we moved a couple of times, so I had to adjust to living in a couple of new areas and making new friends. It wasn't what you see on TV. You always see the beaches, South Beach, but I grew up on the other side of the bridge. I grew up in the area where not many people are successful, and when they are successful, it's through sports. It was a tough neighborhood, but very competitive as a child growing up.

Q: How tough is it to not want to stay with your boys there? You can get into some bad thing there; the temptations there, the make money there. How did you avoid that?

Teddy: Just my mom. She built the foundation and she laid it for our family. She kept me in church, she kept me on the right track, and that right there kept me focused.

Q: Did you sing in the choir?

Teddy: Yeah, I was in the choir and I was the chaplain of the usher boys, so I was pretty involved in the church.

Q: Can you sing now?

Teddy: No, not anymore.

Q: Really? What's your go-to song?

Teddy: I'm a big Kirk Franklin guy. Kirk Franklin, Kurt Carr. Sometimes I'll sing "Melodies from Heaven" or "We Lift Our Hands in the Sanctuary." Those songs, it gives me motivation every day.

Q: So gospel music is your go-to?

Teddy: Oh yeah.

Q: I like The Winans.

Teddy: The Winans, oh yeah, they're pretty good too.

Q: If I said you could be the No. 1 pick overall or win the Heisman, what would be more important to you?

Teddy: I would say being the No. 1 pick, if that's the case. Just so I could provide for my family and just change lives. So that would be more important than the Heisman.

Q: What do you think when you see all the attention Johnny Manziel gets?

Teddy: That just comes with the title, and that just comes with what he's done in his career. He's had a successful career thus far, and he's just always in the limelight. I'm a big fan of Johnny, and I just love the way he plays. Like I was saying, the attention just comes with the title.

Q: No jealousy?

Teddy: None. None at all. Johnny and I, we actually met at the Elite 11. He's a cool guy. We actually had a good time just shooting the basketball around and dunking at the gym. So we just had a good time together.

Q: Wait, both of you guys were dunking?

Teddy: Oh yeah, Johnny can get up.

Q: Really?

Oh yeah. He was windmilling, two-hands, off the backboard, everything.

Q: What do you do better than Manziel?

Teddy: That's just something that I've never paid attention to because our styles are so different. We run a West Coast offense, and he's in a spread offense, so it's pretty tough to compare us.

Q: Who's the better athlete?

Teddy: You know, I am (laughs). The offense he plays in, he gets to showcase his athletic ability more. But like I said, I'm a big fan of Johnny and I just love the way he plays.

Q: These games, when you're facing teams that aren't really good, you know, when you had the game you had last weekend...what are you thinking when you're playing these teams where you know it's just not a fair fight?

Teddy: You know, anything can happen on any Sunday--

Q: Florida International had no chance, Teddy. You know that.

Teddy: Well, but we still--no opponent is just going to come out and let us roll over them. We still have to go out and we still have to execute our game plan. That's our mindset going into those kind of games, that we want to execute our gameplan to make ourselves better. It's not about the opponent we're playing. We can't play down to their level, so we have to continue to elevate our game and make ourselves better.

Q: And I know you're not the one scheduling them and that you have to play whoever's in front of you, but isn't there a part of you that says, 'I want a piece of Alabama?'

Teddy: Oh yeah, no doubt. Having that competitive instinct, you always want to play against the best, so I catch myself saying that a couple times.

Q: You feel like you'd beat them?

Teddy: No doubt (laughs). With the team we have, and the coaches we have, we feel like we're ready to compete against any team in the country.

Q: Well, you know, it's not a great schedule and it's gonna hurt you guys a little bit, but hopefully you get a chance to play one of the big boys in the bowl game.

Teddy: Yeah, we hope so.

Q: Hey, great start so far, and love what you said about your mom. Thanks for joining us, Teddy.

Teddy: Thanks for having me.

And here are the accompanying moving pictures: