Thursday, June 17, 2021. 3:18 PM
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was named finalist for the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Prize ofESPN, Thursday. The honor is given to an athlete whose leadership has made a positive impact in the community through sport.
At the height of the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring, Duvernay-Tardif responded to Prime Minister François Legault’s call to go and help out in a CHSLD.
And in July, he became the first NFL player to skip the season in order to avoid being a vector of contamination of the virus in the community.
His decisions have earned him many testimonies of recognition. The magazine Sports Illustrated Selected him among his five sports personalities of the year and he was co-winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy in Canada along with left-back Alphonso Davies.
The others nominated are Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs, Layshia Clarendo of the Minnesota Lynx and Titus O’Neil of the WWE.
Dr LDT, who also undertook an online Masters in Public Health at renowned Harvard University over the past year, has no regrets about his decision to devote himself to the field of health rather than football.
“It has been a trying year for everyone, including me. I worked in long-term care centers, whether as a nurse or just where help was needed. It was difficult, we lost a lot of patients, the CHSLDs were greatly affected. But being able to listen to the Chiefs games during this period made me feel good, it was fun to watch my teammates and keep in touch with them, I was proud of them. I do not regret my decision, ”he let know last Tuesday as part of the Kansas City Chiefs mini-camp with whom he is trying to regain his post of guard starting to the right of Patrick Mahomes.
Like many people, this exceptional year also allowed him to do a great deal of introspection.
“My vocation is to promote health, whether through medicine, public health or another platform. This is what I’m going to do after my sports career and also during. For me, as a professional athlete, I believe in a way that we have a duty to promote values and a positive message. So I want to take advantage of the great platform that I have the privilege of having with the NFL to do so. “
