Laurent Duvernay-Tardif

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif CQ (French: [lɔʁɑ̃ dyvɛʁne taʁdif]; born February 11, 1991) is a Canadian former American football guard. He played university football and attended medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, before being selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft and playing six years on the team.[2] Duvernay-Tardif is the only physician to have been simultaneously an active NFL player,[3] and one of only six NFL players to graduate from medical school.[4][5] He was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2019 and enrolled at Harvard University to get a Master of Public Health degree the following year.

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
refer to caption
Duvernay-Tardif with the Chiefs in 2017
No. 76, 72
Position:Guard
Personal information
Born: (1991-02-11) February 11, 1991
Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:321 lb (146 kg)
Career information
High school:Collège Saint-Hilaire (Mont-Saint-Hilaire)
University:McGill
NFL Draft:2014 / Round: 6 / Pick: 200
CFL Draft:2014 / Round: 3 / Pick: 19
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:68
Games started:64
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Duvernay-Tardif opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to Canada to work in a care facility. As a result of his efforts on and off the field in 2020, he was named a co-winner of the Lou Marsh Award, given annually to Canada's top athlete, as well as the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year. He returned to the NFL in 2021 after being traded to the New York Jets for two seasons.

He announced his retirement from the NFL on 21 September 2023.[6]

Early life

Duvernay-Tardif was born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, and grew up in Montreal. He started playing football at the age of 14, until his family went on a year long sailing trip to the Bahamas. After their return, he resumed playing football at age 16 for his high school. His native language is French.[7][8]

University career

Duvernay-Tardif attended McGill University, where he was member of the McGill Men's football team from 2010 to 2013. In his final year, he won the J. P. Metras Trophy, recognizing the best lineman in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) system, and was named an All-Canadian for the second consecutive season.[9]

Freshman Year (2010): attended training practice at 253lbs and played as defensive line as #92. He dressed for six out of nine games and started three games.

Sophomore Year (2011): attended training practice at 280lbs and played as offensive line as #66. He dressed and started for all nine games at OT, playing two-ways.

Junior Year (2012): attended training practice at 305lbs. He dressed and started for all nine games at OT, playing two-ways.

Senior Year (2013): attending training practice at 315lbs. He dressed and started for all eight games at OT.[10]

He balanced university football with medical school. In a 2014 article in Sports Illustrated, Joan Niesen said that he "was practicing just once a week—and he was still the best college player in Canada."[11][lower-alpha 1]

Professional career

Duvernay-Tardif played in the 2014 East-West Shrine Game, in which he was part of Jerry Glanville's East team that defeated the West 23–13.[12][13] Duvernay-Tardif did not receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine. On March 27, 2014, Duvernay-Tardif held a personal pro day in Montreal that was attended by nine NFL teams and four Canadian Football League (CFL) teams.[14]

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 5 in
(1.96 m)		 298 lb
(135 kg)		 5.08 s4.59 s7.30 s32 in
(0.81 m)		9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)		34 reps
All values from Personal Pro Day[15]

CFL Draft

In the CFL's Amateur Scouting Bureau final rankings, Duvernay-Tardif was ranked as the best eligible player for the 2014 CFL Draft, a position he held throughout the entirety of the season.[16] However, due to the uncertainty as to his availability as a result of his selection in the NFL Draft, he fell in the draft. He was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders in the third round (19th overall).[17] In July 2022, his CFL rights were acquired by the Montreal Alouettes in a trade with the Stampeders.[18][19]

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Duvernay-Tardif in the sixth round (200th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.[20] Duvernay-Tardif was the 15th offensive tackle drafted in 2014.[21] Since the inception of the NFL Draft, Duvernay-Tardif is the tenth player to be chosen from a Canadian university.[22]

On May 14, 2014, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Duvernay-Tardif to a four-year, $2.34 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $100,300.[23][24] Throughout training camp, Duvernay-Tardif competed to be a starting guard against Zach Fulton, Jeffrey Linkenbach, Rishaw Johnson, Mike McGlynn, and Rokevious Watkins.[25] Head coach Andy Reid named Duvernay-Tardif the fifth offensive guard on the depth chart to start the regular season, behind Jeff Allen, Fulton, Linkenbach, and McGlynn.[26] On September 13, 2015, Duvernay-Tardif made his first career start for the Chiefs in the season opener against the Houston Texans. He went on to play all 16 games with 13 starts for the Chiefs in 2015. In the 2016 season, Duvernay-Tardif started all 14 games he played in at right guard. On February 28, 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Duvernay-Tardif to a five-year, $42.36 million contract that included $20.20 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $10 million.[24][27] During the 2018 season, he started the first five games of the 2018 season at right guard before suffering a fractured fibula in Week 5.[28] He was placed on injured reserve on October 9. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he would not be out for the season and would be reactivated at some point later in the season.[29] However, his injury was worse than originally thought,[30] and he didn't start practicing again until the last week of the schedule.[31] He was activated off injured reserve on January 15, 2019, prior to the Chiefs AFC Championship matchup against the New England Patriots.[32] In 2019, Duvernay-Tardif played 14 games. On February 2, 2020, the Chiefs went on to win Super Bowl LIV, their first championship in 50 years.[33]

On April 22, 2020, the Chiefs restructured Duvernay-Tardif's contract to free up salary cap space.[34] On July 24, he announced via his Twitter account he chose to opt-out of playing during the 2020 season as a precaution due to COVID-19.[35] He had been working as an orderly at a Montreal long-term care facility during the pandemic.[36] He was the first NFL player to announce he would not play the season because of COVID-19.[37] His role in fighting COVID off the field in 2020 resulted in Sports Illustrated naming him one of their Sportspeople of the Year.[38] For his efforts both on and off the field in 2020, he was named a co-winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy, which is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete for the year.[39][40] On July 10, 2021, he was named the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the 2021 ESPYs for his decision to opt out of the 2020 NFL season to help fight the global COVID-19 pandemic.[41][42]

New York Jets

Duvernay-Tardif was traded to the New York Jets on November 2, 2021, in exchange for tight end Daniel Brown.[43] On November 18, 2022, after going unsigned all offseason and into the season, Duvernay-Tardif was signed to the Jets practice squad.[44] He was promoted to the active roster on December 7.[45]

On September 21, 2023, Duvernay-Tardif announced his retirement from the NFL.[46]

Personal life

Duvernay-Tardif is the fourth NFL player to have graduated from medical school.[47] He graduated from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in May 2018 with a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (M.D., C.M.). He primarily studied during the off-season prior to mandatory off-season workouts.[48] He had the support of the Chiefs coaching staff, especially head coach Andy Reid, whose mother also graduated from McGill's medical school.[49] Following his graduation, he petitioned the NFL to add the title "M.D." on the back of his jersey. The league denied his request, prompting fans and writers to criticize the league's decision.[50] He has not yet completed his postgraduate medical training. Duvernay-Tardif provided the convocation address at McGill's 2020 graduation ceremony.[51] In 2020, he also started studying at Harvard University to get a Master of Public Health.[52]

During the 2018 offseason, Duvernay-Tardif worked as a feature reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) during its coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.[49] He is also a member of the NFLPA Health and Safety Committee to protect the health of players.[22]

In 2019, Duvernay-Tardif was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.[53] He is the grandson of former Quebec cabinet minister Guy Tardif.[54]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Duvernay-Tardif wanted to help combat the pandemic and returned to Quebec to work at CHSLD Gertrude-Lafrance, a long-term care facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.[55] He was profiled in a TSN documentary, "Front Line", which was later nominated for the best sports feature segment at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards.

See also
  • Mark Adickes – former NFL player who became an orthopedic surgeon; ESPN NFL Injury Analyst
  • Tommy Casanova – former NFL player who became an ophthalmologist
  • Dan Doornink – former NFL running back who became a medical doctor
  • John Frank – Super Bowl winning SF 49er who became a NY City based plastic surgeon
  • Bill McColl – former NFL player who became an orthopedic surgeon, father of Milt McColl
  • Milt McColl – former NFL linebacker who became a medical doctor
  • Myron Rolle – former NFL defensive back who was also a Rhodes scholar and is a current neurosurgery resident
  • Doug Swift – former NFL linebacker who became an anesthesiologist
  • Rob Zatechka – former NFL guard who became a medical doctor
  • Stefan Humphries – former NFL guard who became a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician

Footnotes
  1. In American English, "college" is the generic term for postsecondary undergraduate education, regardless of an institution's formal name, or the types of degrees awarded. See College#United States and College#Canada for more details.

References
  1. "Davies, Duvernay-Tardif named co-winners of 2020 Lou Marsh Trophy". Toronto: The Sports Network. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  2. Morse, Ben (September 21, 2023). "'A player must flourish off the field to perform on the field': Ex-Chiefs star and medical doctor Laurent Duvernay-Tardif retires from NFL". CNN. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  3. Martin, Shawn (February 7, 2023). "6 NFL Players Who Became Doctors". Wapiti Medical Staffing. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  4. "Before The NFL Had Dr. Duvernay-Tardif, There Was Dr. Milt McColl | Only A Game". Wbur.org. September 7, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  5. Martin, Shawn (February 7, 2023). "6 NFL Players Who Became Doctors". Wapiti Medical Staffing. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  6. "A player must flourish off the field to perform on the field': Ex-Chiefs star and medical doctor Laurent Duvernay-Tardif retires from NFL | CNN".
  7. "Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Balances Medical School With NFL Life | NFL Films Presents". YouTube. November 3, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  8. "The First Active NFL Player to Become a Doctor: Blocking for Mahomes & Saving Lives". YouTube. January 7, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  9. "Awards piling up for McGill medical student and football player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif". Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  10. "Laurent Duvernay-Tardif - Football (M)". McGill University Athletics. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  11. Niesen, Joan (March 24, 2014). "Heal Thyself". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  12. "McGill's Duvernay-Tardif, Manitoba's Gill invited to Shrine Game". presto-en.usports.ca. December 12, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
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  16. "Final Scouting Bureau rankings revealed". Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  17. "Laurent Duvernay-Tardif falls to 19th overall to Calgary". cfl.ca. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
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  21. Canadian OL Duvernay-Tardif Drafted by Chiefs in Sixth Round
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  33. "Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV". NFL. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
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  54. "NFL et médecine: le beau risque de Laurent Duvernay-Tardif" [NFL and medicine: the bold risk of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif]. L'actualité (in French). October 30, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
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