Adam Himmelsbach

The Courier-Journal

NEW YORK – The clock ticked toward midnight on Thursday, and Teddy Bridgewater was waiting patiently in the NFL draft's green room at Radio City Music Hall.

The former Louisville quarterback had sat there for hours that must have felt like days, watching one player after another leave him and walk across the stage and shake Commissioner Roger Goodell's hand.

Then, finally, before the last pick of the first round, there was hope. The Minnesota Vikings had traded up to the 32nd pick. Bridgewater remembered the splendid workout he had crafted for Minnesota. He remembered the franchise's decision-makers had thought highly of him.

Then his cellphone chirped. It was Vikings general manager Rick Spielman.

"I told you we were going to get you," Spielman said. "Sorry we had to make you wait a little."

Just like that, the wait was over. Bridgewater's mother, Rose Murphy, saw the television cameras scurrying to her son and initially didn't know what the commotion was about. Then it set in. Their dream had come true.

"I gave her a big hug," Bridgewater said. "She seemed overjoyed."

Bridgewater's selection capped a banner night for U of L, as he was the third Cardinal selected, joining Calvin Pryor (18) and Marcus Smith (26). Previously, the school had never had more than one first-round pick in a year.

Even though he was the last one to be picked of the three, Bridgewater is the most recognizable. Now he will be tasked with resuscitating the Vikings.

"Yes, I definitely feel I can be that guy," Bridgewater said. "I'll be able to show that I'm that guy."

A year ago, most experts had slotted the quarterback as a top-10 pick. Then he had a dominant junior season, and all seemed fine.

But some experts said that in NFL circles, Bridgewater had long been viewed as a likely second-round pick. There were apparent concerns about his skinny knees and his hand size, and at his pro day, his passes were more errant than accurate.

On Thursday, as one pick after another was called and teams that had no need for quarterbacks were waiting at the back end of the draft, Bridgewater tried to stay poised. He told himself that everything happens for a reason.

"Tonight in the green room," he said, "it was pretty nerve-wracking."

Still, the NFL draft is an uncertain process, and everyone knows you need just one team to make one move, and there were the Vikings. When Bridgewater saw that Minnesota had traded up, he thought back to his private workout with the team — one of just three he conducted after his disappointing pro day.

"My feet were quick, throwing on time, great arc and placement," Bridgewater recalled. "The ball barely hit the ground that day."

The Vikings, apparently, were impressed enough to make their move to get their guy. And now Bridgewater doesn't have to think or talk about the stress of the past few months. At about 12:40 a.m. early Friday morning, he wrapped up the final interview in a near-empty bottom floor of Radio City Music Hall.

He asked an NFL staffer where he was headed next.

"That's the end of it," she said.

But for Bridgewater, this is really only the beginning.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by email ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach