Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (French: [l???? dyv??ne ta?dif]; born February 11, 1991) is a Canadian-born physician and American football guard for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at McGill University.
Video Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Early life
Duvernay-Tardif was born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec and grew up in Montreal. He played football as a child, but did not play in high school. His native language is French.
Maps Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
College career
Duvernay-Tardif attended McGill University, where he was member of the McGill Redmen football team from 2010 to 2013. As a senior, he won the J. P. Metras Trophy, recognizing the Most Outstanding Lineman in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) system, and was named an All-Canadian for the second consecutive season.
He balanced college football with his studies in medicine. 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."
Professional career
Pre-draft
On December 12, 2013, it was announced that Duvernay-Tardif had accepted his invitation to play in the 2014 East-West Shrine Game. On January 18, 2014, Duvernay-Tardif played in the 2014 East-West Shrine Game and was part of Jerry Glanville's East team that defeated the West 23-13. His performance at the East-West Shrine Game helped improve his draft stock. 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. He attended pre-draft visits with multiple teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Green Bay Packers. He also participated at a private workout for the Philadelphia Eagles. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Duvernay-Tardif was projected to be drafted anywhere from the third to fifth round by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 12th best offensive tackle prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.
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. 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).
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Duvernay-Tardiff in the sixth round (200th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. Duvernay-Tardiff was the 15th offensive tackle drafted in 2014. Since the inception of the NFL Draft, Duvernay-Tardif is the tenth player to be chosen from a Canadian university.
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.
Throughout training camp, Duvernay-Tardif competed to be a starting guard against Zach Fulton, Jeffrey Linkenbach, Rishaw Johnson, Mike McGlynn, and Rokevious Watkins. Head coach Andy Reid named Duvernay-Tardif the fifth offensive guard on the depth chart to start the regular season, behind Jeff Allen, Zach Fulton, Jeff Linkenbach, and Mike McGlynn.
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 for the Chiefs.
On February 28, 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Duvernay-Tardif to a five-year, $42.36 million contract that includes $20.20 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $10 million.
Personal life
Duvernay-Tardif is the first active NFL player to have become a physician. He graduated from McGill's medical school in May 2018. He primarily studied during the offseason prior to mandatory off-season workouts. He had the support of the Chiefs coaching staff, especially head coach Andy Reid, whose mother also graduated from the McGill medical school.
During the 2018 offseason, Duvernay-Tardif worked as a feature reporter for the CBC during its coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Duvernay-Tardif has been working with the developers of Shockbox, a device that is placed inside of football helmets to measure the impacts received on the field. He says that he hopes that his work will help to prevent concussions in football.
Duvernay-Tardif is the grandson of former Quebec cabinet minister Guy Tardif.
References
External links
- McGill Redmen biography
Source of article : Wikipedia
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