MIAMI – He may seem tough on the field as one of the top picks for this year's NFL draft, but even Teddy Bridgewater has a soft spot for his mom.
The Miami native, who played quarterback for Northwestern High School before going on to University of Louisville, surprised his mother, Rose Murphy, with a pink Cadillac. Bridgewater, 21, had promised Murphy he would buy her an Escalade when he was just 9 years old.
"We were riding home from my little league football practice, I saw an Escalade riding by and I told her when I made it to the NFL, I'm going to buy you a pink Escalade truck," said Bridgewater, in a short film posted on YouTube by Cadillac.
"I stuck with the color pink just because she was diagnosed with breast cancer. You know when I was 9 years old I was just thinking ‘Hey, pink is the color any woman would like.'"
Murphy was diagnosed with breast cancer when Bridgewater was a teenager. Even during her cancer battle, Murphy was an inspiration to Bridgewater and his teammates.
"Miss Rose is phenomenal, she was always here. She was the team's mom," recalled one coach.
"Teddy was the baby of all my kids," said Murphy. "I had to fight more for him also because I didn't want to leave him here. I wasn't ready to leave him here, so I fought and I fought and I fought."
The mother of four beat the disease in 2008, while Bridgewater was in high school.
Cadillac helped Bridgewater make his childhood dream come true, even helping to pick the perfect shade of pink for his mother's new ride. The company also recruited the help of Spike Lee to direct the short film. Lee traveled to Miami in order to interview the quarterback, his family, and former coaches.
Following a lunch with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts in New York City, Bridgewater led his mother outside to show her the car. Lee captured her surprise on video, as she admires the 2015 Cadillac Escalade, complete with a big bow.
Bridgewater is expected to be a first round pick in the NFL draft when it begins on Thursday.