FHSAA reviewing allegations against Teddy Bridgewater's Miami Northwestern: Report

According to USA Today's Alex Martin and Jon Santucci, the Florida High School Athletic Association is looking into the allegation the the Bulls used a fifth-year player; the team's eligibility for the remainder of the playoffs is in jeopardy
Miami Northwestern takes on Coconut Creek in the season opener
Miami Northwestern takes on Coconut Creek in the season opener / The Portal 305/FootballHotbed.com

Could another South Florida powerhouse be bounced out of playoff contention due to use of an ineligible player?

According to an explosive report by USA Today's Alex Martin and Jon Santucci, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is looking into an allegation of Teddy Bridgewater's Miami Northwestern Bulls using a fifth-year player.

Per Martin and Santucci's report, the USA Today Network obtained a transcript of the unnamed player, who had enrolled in the fall of 2020 and this fall semester would be his ninth semester, which would make the student-athlete ineligible per FHSAA Bylaw 9.5.1.

If the allegation is found to be true, Miami Northwestern would have to forfeit every single game the player participated in, thus possibly ending the Bulls' season before Friday's scheduled Class 3A region quarterfinal against Naples Lely. Miami Northwestern is coming off a 69-0 region quarterfinal win over Barron Collier last week.

It hasn't been all flowers down in South Florida when it comes to high school football for Bridgewater, as the former first round draft pick sounded off on the state of game last month via his personal Facebook page. Down below is Bridgewater's remarks:

“I didn’t walk away from millions to be associated with this high school drama,” said Bridgewater. “I did it to better the future of the sport in south Florida… I’ve been to the highest level and this level is peanuts to an elephant when you’ve reached the top. So you don’t get caught up in the small stuff when you’ve seen the top. However, this is the highest level for many so that’s why you have the telling and ‘whatever it takes to win’ mentality going on. But that’s the problem, not many people have won at the life God has given them so they live through the kids and make it about them and not their kids. Now we have grown men telling on KIDS!! Jeopardizing their future and their team’s future. As a man, what do you get out of that?? I pray MNW stays in the clear from all that’s going on because like I tell my coaches, I played 10 years in the league and never made any headlines and I’ll be damned if I let MNW have me caught up in some mess. I know it’s people waiting on the day it happens.”

Teddy Bridgewater unloads on the state of high school football

Bridgewater, via his X head coaching account for Miami Northwestern, posted an interesting tweet on Tuesday morning, hinting at a return to the NFL. Down below is the post Bridgewater made on X:

"So many QB jobs available for me after we make this state title run. I can't wait to return back to the NFL."

Teddy Bridgewater hints at a return to the NFL

Teddy Bridgewater's X account
Teddy Bridgewater's X account / Andy Villamarzo

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi


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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.