Teddy Bridgewater is getting a fresh start as the new franchise quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, but his story is one we can all love no matter where our allegiances lie.

The story of Teddy Bridgewater starts like many other NFL quarterbacks. He was a four star recruit coming out of high school before attending Louisville for college. In 2013, his final year at Louisville, he passed for 3,970 yards, with 31 touchdowns to only four interceptions, and had a 71% completion rate.

Bridgewater was touted as one of the best quarterbacks coming out of the 2014 draft, along with Johnny Manziel. He was even slated as the number one overall pick in an early mock draft. Instead, he slid all the way to the final pick of the first round, where the Minnesota Vikings traded up to get him.

Teddy would make his NFL debut on September 21, 2014, coming in for the injured Matt Cassel. He would never lose that starting job and finished the season as the 2014 Pepsi Rookie of the Year. In 2015, Bridgewater was named to his first Pro Bowl.

Everything changed in the preseason of 2016.

During the early part of a Vikings preseason practice on August 30th, 2016, Bridgewater went down on a non-contact injury. Non-contact injuries happen occasionally, but this one was different. Bridgewater's screams and the gruesome injury the players had witnessed left "powerful men rendered powerless." 

Even players who saw it happen wouldn't go into detail about the injury, it was that bad for them.

"I saw it all," said running back Jerick McKinnon. "I ain't going to go into it. I don't have any words to describe it."

Running back Matt Asiata thought Bridgewater "must be faking it... This can't be real."

But it was real. Bridgewater's knee snapped, tearing his ACL and many other ligaments. Even his surgeon was shocked by what he saw.

"It was just a horribly grotesque injury," Dan Cooper, his surgeon, said. "It's mangled. You make the skin incision, and there's nothing there. It's almost like a war wound. Everything is blown."

After an ambulance took Bridgewater off the field, head coach Mike Zimmer canceled the rest of practice for the day. It was an injury so bad some believed they may have needed to amputate the leg. Thankfully, no major arteries were severed that would have led to a possible need for amputation.

Friends, family, teammates, and doctors were all more concerned with whether or not Teddy would one day be able to walk again, let alone play in the NFL.

One thing that anyone who has known Teddy Bridgewater would say about him is that he is a kind and caring person with a strong spirit and incredible resolve. According to Cooper, surgeries like this break down people, but he said "I never saw it break Teddy down. ... Most people have no idea the volume of the workload this kid had to put in. He had a toothpick of a leg he had to rebuild."

Not long after the injury, he credited his mother for his strength. "I come from amazing DNA," he said. "I watched my mom fight and win against breast cancer. We will, as a team, attack my rehab with the same vigor and energy."

And so he did.  Teddy began the journey of 19 long months of grueling rehab. Nearly two full seasons later, Bridgewater played in his first game since the injury on December 17th, 2017. He played nine snaps at the end of a blowout victory, coming out to a standing ovation from the Vikings home crowd.

That offseason, Teddy left Minnesota and signed with the New York Jets on what looked to be a back-up quarterback deal after the Jets drafted rookie Sam Darnold in the first round. Bridgewater played in two preseason games, and even purposefully took some hits in the second game for his own benefit to prove to himself that he was good and had recovered.

He said he was having fun playing and felt blessed to be able to play football. He was back to his old self, having fun and jumping around in practice.

Bridgewater proved himself to be one of the "strongest men in the NFL."

"His inner resolve," Cooper said, "kept him from being defeated on a daily basis for a year and a half." Cooper also said it was "incredibly gratifying" to get to see Teddy play well again in the preseason for the Jets.

After the second preseason game, Teddy was traded to the New Orleans Saints for a third round draft pick, nearly two years to the day removed from his injury. The Saints coaching staff was impressed with Bridgewater with how quickly he could pick up on head coach Sean Payton's complex offense.

Nearly three years after making his last start in a Wild Card Round loss to the Seahawks in January 2016, Bridgewater got to make a start for the New Orleans Saints in a "meaningless" week 17 game that was anything but meaningless for him.

With all of the starters for the Saints resting in preparation for a playoff push, Teddy had little to no support in a losing effort, completing 14 of 22 passes for 118 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also rushed for 12 yards.

That offseason, Bridgewater had the opportunity to sign with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent and compete for a starting role, but instead he chose to stay with the Saints on a one year deal and continue to learn from Drew Brees as his backup.

Teddy said this about returning for another year:

“My team and I, we came together to think about what’s going to put Teddy in the best situation as a football player. That turned into New Orleans. Look at this team, this roster. Everyone talks about opportunity. Well, sometimes you don’t want to rush things, and you let things take their course. Why not come back here?”

That opportunity he was looking for came sooner than expected, and sooner than everyone in New Orleans would have wanted.

During a week two NFC Championship Game rematch with the Los Angeles Rams, Drew Brees injured his right thumb and was expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Many people doubted Bridgewater's ability to lead the team in the coming weeks and called for third string quarterback and do-it-all swiss army knife Taysom Hill to take the reins.

But it quickly became clear that Teddy was the guy that everyone in the locker room wanted to get behind. Even as the backup quarterback being there for barely a year, Bridgewater had commanded the respect and admiration of the entire team with just the type of person he was. He was a leader even as a backup.

“He’s just such a standup guy. He never makes excuses. He takes responsibility. He prepares. He’s just one of those guys everyone loves to be around,” quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi said.

With each passing game, Teddy and the team grew tighter and it showed on the field as Payton gave him more room to make bigger plays. The entire team rallied around him and played incredible football from all sides.

The best case scenario in many people's minds was the Saints going 3-3 in the six weeks Brees was projected to be out, then Brees would come back in and fight for a playoff spot.

Instead, what happened surprised nearly everyone, as Bridgewater led the team to a 5-0 record against competition that included the Seahawks, Cowboys, and Bears, completing 69.7 percent of his passes for 1,205 yards and nine touchdowns with only two interceptions. Brees came back early and Teddy was once again relegated to backup duties.

But Bridgewater had made his mark. He had proven to doubters that he could in fact play football again, and he could do more than just be a game manager when needed. That fact was evident in the game against Tampa Bay as he made multiple big plays when the team needed it.

Many believed that after those five games, he was bound to get a contract with a team as a starter after that season.

And with free agency set to begin in 2020, Teddy got just that, signing a three year, $60 million deal with the Carolina Panthers after they began to seek a trade partner for former MVP quarterback Cam Newton.

Teddy Bridgewater's journey through injury and his incredible and improbable comeback is inspirational and shows just how remarkable of a person he is. He has always been a player that fans can get behind and love, and everywhere he goes he just gains more respect and new fans.

At only 27 years old, Teddy's football story is not yet over. And it is one that many will excitedly follow no matter what team they claim. Bridgewater's story transcends team allegiances; even Saints fans will be happy for his success with their rival Panthers.

As football fans, and fans of human success stories, we can all be excited for what comes next for Teddy, even if he doesn't play for our team.