Teddy Bridgewater Named Vikings’ Ed Block Courage Award Winner

The Minnesota Vikings might not have had quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on the field this season, but today made it clear that his teammates haven’t forgotten about him.

On Thursday, the Vikings named Bridgewater the recipient of their Ed Block Courage Award. The award, which is voted on by the players, is given to a player that exemplifies a commitment to sportsmanship and courage, and recognizes players that have overcome adversity either on the field or off of it. Last year’s Vikings’ recipient of the award was offensive tackle Phil Loadholt, who miss the entire 2015 season after tearing his Achilles in a preseason game.

Bridgewater suffered an awful non-contact knee injury in a practice following Minnesota’s third preseason game this season, and was placed on injured reserve. All of the signs pointed to Bridgewater having a breakout season in his third year in the league, but he never got the opportunity to do so.

Bridgewater released a statement through the team upon winning the award.

“It’s an honor to win this award. Especially as my teammates made the selection. 2016 has been amazing for me. Everyone looks at an injury as a negative. It has helped me spiritually and mentally even with me already being an extremely positive person. My injury was a new challenge and I love challenges. With the help of many people we have attacked this challenge head on and expect great success in the future. A special thanks to the Vikings training staff and all those that support me along my journey."

Nobody knows for sure what the future holds for Teddy Bridgewater on the football field, but obviously all of us are hoping that he can make it all the way back from his injury. Hopefully we’ll start seeing more updates on how he’s progressing when we get closer to spring practices and mini-camps and things of that nature.

For now, however, congratulations to Teddy Bridgewater on being the Vikings’ 2016 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.