“Teddy Bridgewater Act” becomes law in Florida

Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater took a break from playing in 2023 to become the coach at his former Miami high school. In 2024, Bridgewater stepped down after revealing that he had used his own money to cover expenses for his players — transportation, recovery, and pre-game meals.

And while Bridgewater seems to be done, at least for now, with coaching, Florida has addressed the problem his situation highlighted.

Via Andy Villamarzo of On3.com, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the so-called “Teddy Bridgewater Act” into law on Friday.

The law allows middle-school and high-school head coaches to spend up to $15,000 of their own funds to support student-athletes with food, transportation and recovery services.

The Florida Senate had passed the measure in February. As noted at the time, the law potentially opens Pandora’s box. How will anyone accurately track expenditures? And what’s to stop the coach from becoming the conduit for boosters to funnel more than $15,000 to players?

Regardless, Florida has acknowledged the fact that there’s no harm in letting football coaches help their players. The question becomes whether the limit will be respected, or whether it will be abused in the name of chasing wins.