Broncos Country is unfairly taking out their frustrations on Bridgewater
Nov 17, 2021, 6:25 AM
I have found myself undergoing a strange metamorphosis over the last 48 hours. On Sunday, I was like everyone else. I was ticked off with Teddy Bridgewater’s pathetic “effort” on the interception return for a TD.
I was sitting in the Broncos interview room about 20 feet from Bridgewater when he offered the lame excuse that he was trying to angle Darius Slay back toward the middle of the field for someone else to tackle.
I was disappointed in a guy who has carried himself the right way and said all the right things and unanimously earned the respect and admiration of every player and coach to the point where the so-called 50/50 flip a coin competition with Drew Lock during training camp was clearly a sham.
I won’t argue that what Bridgewater did was a bad look. It was something he needed to be held accountable for and called out for. He was. The outcry on social media and national talk shows made that clear.
What he faced within the walls of Broncos HQ was even worse. Being called out by teammates and having that play shown on the big screen in front of the whole team is something even the toughest SOB football players will tell you is something you never want to go through.
He stood up and admitted what he did was wrong, that the criticism was fair, and that he learned a very valuable lesson.
Yes, I repeat, it was a bad look. But to some it is some unforgivable sin. To which I say, hold on. You telling me that doing something like this is unpardonable? Are you going to be consistent with that?
If a Nikola Jokic or Nathan MacKinnon loafs are you going to get up on your moral soapbox, and rant and rave about the integrity of the game, and how wearing a Denver uniform stands for something so profound that by violating whatever code it is you claim to live by then that means an automatic ticket out of town?
No, of course you wouldn’t. Which is what this is all about. This isn’t all about “Tap Out Teddy” turning it down. This is about you not liking Teddy. Or liking Drew Lock. Or being upset the Broncos didn’t draft Justin Fields. Or being annoyed with Mark Schlereth for not being 100 percent right about Aaron Rodgers on draft night. Or being frustrated and fed up with the Broncos 37-53 record the last five years. Or having had it up to here with Vic Fangio, Vance Joseph, Pat Shurmur, Mike McCoy and Tom McMahon. Or being exhausted with watching an endless parade of Siemians, Lynchs, Osweilers, Flaccos, Keenums and Bridgewaters. Or feeling guilty because instead of calling out the personnel failings of John Elway you were too busy genuflecting towards his bobblehead in the Elway shrine in your basement.
Teddy’s business decision was it. The final straw. This blew the top off the volcano. Teddy became the perfect vehicle to unload everything that has built up over the last several years. He became the ultimate scapegoat for everything that has irritated and frustrated Broncos Country.
That isn’t fair.
