Dave Hyde: Don’t suspend Teddy Bridgewater, salute his compassion

Some players didnt have enough money to eat properly.Hed buy those kids meals so they wouldnt be hungry all the time, a friend of Teddy Bridgewater said.Some players had no way home after practice.Hed paid pay for Ubers for them, Bridgewaters friend said.There has never been an amateur code in sports that isnt eventually discarded and looked back on with regret for its inverted morality when it gets updated to the real world.

That will be the case someday regarding Bridgewaters suspension by the Florida High School Athletic Association for giving extra benefits to his players at Miami Northwestern High School.The extra benefits included meals after morning training sessions, he wrote on Facebook.

And the $300 spent on lining the field properly for games.

And pre-game team dinners cost him $2,200 to serve last season.For this hes suspended?Theres a crisis in public high schools, and its not the Bridgewaters offering food and rides to players who need help.

Its that coaches like him across our communities have to dig into their pockets and ask others for donations just like teachers do for school supplies as public-school budgets get cut.The funny thing is without Bridgewater making a Facebook post asking for donations the high-school association doesnt have a case to suspend him.The most recent event we have coming up is our Training Camp where we sleep in the schools basketball gym, Bridgewater wrote.

Last year it cost me $14,000 to conduct the camp (4 nights) 3 hot meals a day from local black owned restaurants and a snack on some of those days.For this, he cant coach right now.

For this, theres headlines across the country calling the former NFL quarterback a cheater.

But theres a word for what Bridgewater did and its not cheating.

Its compassion.

Its the idea of a former NFL name paying it forward.Sure, Bridgewater has the money to do more than most.

He earned more than $60 million playing in the NFL.

So some people shrug at his spending $9,500 to purchase apparel, for the players so they can look like a team, as he wrote.But how many millionaires help like he does? How many volunteer their time to coach in the same neighborhood they grew up? How many impact high school students in the manner he can?There are few rules left in high school sports with players changing teams every season.

But evidently helping kids who need help crosses the line.

Bridgewater spent $700 a week on Uber fares, he said.

He spent $1,300 a week to have recovery trucks come service the players the day before games.He wasnt listing all this to pump his name.

The idea was to get others to help out so its not all on him and theres some structure to the program after he leaves.

Whats the difference between his spending this money and a booster club offering it?Hear me out, THIS ISNT A CRY OUT FOR HELP but more so a coach seeking donations, Bridgewater wrote.

I will post the fundraising packages I put together later today and I will provide my foundations Bank Account information later today.If Teddy Bridgewater doesnt personally approach on behalf of the football team asking for donations feel free to do what you want.

The job will get done one way or another ...Once upon a time it was illegal for Olympic athletes to get any money.

College programs used to be destroyed if it became known they offered millions under the table in the manner theyre giving above the table in todays world.High school sports needs to catch up with the times.

You dont penalize a coach who came back to his community and offered not just his knowledge but some meals and rides to help out players.You celebrate that coach.You hold him up as a model for other NFL players to follow.Some days the people running high school sports need to get back to high school to learn how the world really runs..

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