The 31-year-old guard does not hide it, the idea of bowing out has occupied his mind in recent months. He preferred to put his sports career on hold in order to prioritize short-term medicine and see what the future holds for him in September.
Four years after obtaining his doctorate in medicine at McGill University, it was time for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to begin his residency, the deadline for applying being set for 2022.
« Although McGill has always given me a lot of flexibility, I always told myself that I wanted to stay within the rules, within what is allowed. I didn’t want to ask for special permission. Maybe I could have found a way, but it was important for me to give myself the best chance to be a good doctor because the decision to play football or not is 100% personal, but the medicine, it still involves other people, starting with the patients. »
His decision was absolutely not made on a whim. It has been matured for quite some time, the process having officially started at the end of autumn.
In the weeks following his transfer in November from the Kansas City Chiefs to the New York Jets, after he lifted his no-trade clause, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif began the process of completing his medical residency in Quebec. . A series of interviews followed in March, and he was selected by the McGill University Health Center in May.
While he was preparing for the continuation of his medicine, several organizations interested in his services contacted his agent Sasha Ghavami. Three formal offers were received, confides Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, but were all declined since he was going to have to be absent from the first collective training sessions, the camp and the preparatory calendar.
I have decided to start my residency on July 1st. This is also what made it so that I did not sign the contracts that were offered to me. The good news there, we’ve been honest with the teams that have approached us, and there’s still openness on the part of some of them to consider signing for the start of the season.
indicates one who aspires to specialize in family and emergency medicine.
The partially open door
The duration of his residency in medicine extends over two years. His first obligations, the introductory period to the program, take place for two months until the end of August.
After which, the guard will re-evaluate his options, whether his heart still beats so much for football, first and foremost, and whether a team with a favorable situation shows interest in him.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif played over 4,000 NFL games as an offensive lineman.
Photo : usa today sports / Brad Penner
football, c'est le plus important. Si je retourne jouer, c'est parce que j'aime le football, ce n'est pas pour le contrat ni l'argent, assure Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. À la limite, rejouer au football, ça mettrait sur pause un paquet d'autres affaires dans ma vie. Il faut que je le fasse parce que j'ai envie d'être là. C'est le plus gros facteur.","text":"L'envie de jouer au football, c'est le plus important. Si je retourne jouer, c'est parce que j'aime le football, ce n'est pas pour le contrat ni l'argent, assure Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. À la limite, rejouer au football, ça mettrait sur pause un paquet d'autres affaires dans ma vie. Il faut que je le fasse parce que j'ai envie d'être là. C'est le plus gros facteur."}}">The desire to play football is the most important thing. If I go back to play, it’s because I love football, it’s not for the contract or the money, assures Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Ultimately, playing football again would put a lot of other business in my life on hold. I have to do it because I want to be there. This is the biggest factor.
football","text":"En réalité, je ne sais pas exactement ce qui va arriver cet automne. Je pense qu'il y a de bonnes chances qu'on m'offre un contrat, mais rendu à cette étape peut-être que je vais me rendre compte qu'avec la médecine, je suis un peu en retard. Peut-être que je n'aurai pas cet appel de jouer au football"}}">In reality, I don’t know exactly what will happen this fall. I think there’s a good chance I’ll be offered a contract, but at this stage maybe I’ll realize that with medicine, I’m a little behind. Maybe I won’t have that call to play football
adds the champion of Super Bowl LIV in the Kansas City uniform.
« Of course I’m not helping my chances. In the sense that if the only thing in life I wanted was to be in for the start of the 2022 season, I would have signed in March. But my goal is to be a doctor for the next 30 years and maybe play another season of football. After eight years in the NFL, I give myself the right to make decisions that are best for me from a global and holistic perspective, not just football. I know it comes with some risk, but I’m really comfortable with it. »
By his own admission, the principal concerned made a difficult transition during the 2021 calendar after having swapped the Chiefs’ offensive playbook, which he knew like the back of his hand, for that of the Jets, which he had to assimilate. in a hasty way to get repetitions.
He believes that his ability to adapt is an added value in the eyes of organizations that could seek reinforcements at the end of the preseason or when the campaign is underway. Nevertheless, his will will prevail.
football et de performer avec une constance. C'est extrêmement difficile. Je ne pensais pas que ce serait difficile comme ça. Mais comme je l'ai fait et que ça s'est relativement bien passé, ça me donnera des arguments pour intégrer une équipe, si j'ai envie de le faire","text":"C'est difficile de tout connaître les situations possibles dans un match de football et de performer avec une constance. C'est extrêmement difficile. Je ne pensais pas que ce serait difficile comme ça. Mais comme je l'ai fait et que ça s'est relativement bien passé, ça me donnera des arguments pour intégrer une équipe, si j'ai envie de le faire"}}">It’s difficult to know all the possible situations in a football match and to perform with consistency. It is extremely difficult. I didn’t think it would be so difficult. But as I did it and it went relatively well, it will give me arguments to join a team, if I want to do it.
says Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who has 68 games behind the tie, including 64 starts, since his selection in the 2014 draft.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif had the mandate to protect Patrick Mahomes when he both defended the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Photo : Getty Images / Jamie Squire
000 people and you have Fletcher Cox or Aaron Donald in front of you, you have to feel that you have everything in you to be successful. Football is a physical game, but above all a mental game”,”text”:”It’s all well and good to learn the playbook, train indoors and all that, but when you’re in a stadium in front of 80,000 people and you have Fletcher Cox or Aaron Donald in front of you, you have to feel that you have everything in you to be successful. Football is a physical game, but above all a mental one”}}”>It’s all well and good learning the playbook and training in the gym and all that, but when you’re in a stadium in front of 80,000 people and you have Fletcher Cox or Aaron Donald in front of you, you have to feel that you have everything in you to be successful. Football is a physical game, but above all a mental one
he adds, alluding to the commitment necessary to pursue his sporting career.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif could have carried out his residency outside the province, or even outside the Canadian borders. He finally opted to return home, on the one hand for the environment offered by the McGill University Health Center, on the other hand to be closer to his family.
It’s a beautiful environment. I think we are lucky in Quebec, for the accessibility of care, for the cultural diversity in Montreal and also for the languages, it is a wealth to be able to work in English and in French. All of this put together, with the closeness of family and friends, makes it the place where I want to evolve, to practice, to contribute.
explains Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Asked whether one or other of the political parties had approached him recently with the provincial elections looming on the horizon, he contented himself with answering, between two bursts of laughter, no comment
.
It goes without saying, the man with many hats has been in demand for several years, to say the least, on practically all fronts. And it will be even more so when its withdrawal from competition is confirmed and announced. This fall or later.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was the 200th player selected at the 2014 NFL auction.
Photo : Associated Press / Jeff Roberson
