“It’s like playing chess full contact,” Laurent Duvernay-Tardif smiled while talking about football during the show “LDT: the end of an era” presented this evening on RDS.
It was with great openness that the newly retired 32-year-old confided in Matthieu Proulx with whom he discussed his atypical journey which led him, somewhat against all odds, to conquer the Super Bowl in 2020 and to the ‘financial autonomy. LDT also talks in this interview about his great friendship for his agent and friend Sacha Ghavami whose relentlessness allowed him to reach unexpected heights as well as his great admiration for the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid, who did everything to enable him to succeed on both sides of football and medicine.
Duvernay-Tardif chose football above all to channel his energies into being a better student. After dreaming of becoming a badminton champion, he admits that learning football midway through his adolescence helped him structure his Cartesian mind. “I did cross-country skiing, sailing and then discovered football. I discovered it late and it quickly became a passion. It’s the greatest team sport. I had the chance to play several positions; defensive line, running back, offensive line. Each position has a role to play and you are responsible for the team’s success without necessarily touching the ball. »
LDT believes that football is a mirror of a person’s true nature. “It said a lot about your character and how much you can sacrifice for the team without necessarily being in the spotlight. »
He believes that football also better prepared him to prepare for the second career he is about to pursue in medicine. The preparation aspect of his sport still fascinates him. “It’s how you make the best possible decision in a stressful environment. »
Grateful for the great happiness he is experiencing, Duvernay-Tardif knows very well that all this consecration almost never took place without the boundless determination of his best friend Sacha Ghavami, who did everything to allow him to have a dream life when he himself no longer believed in it.
No NFL team had heard of him on the sidelines of the 2014 draft. To open the eyes of American teams, he even went into exile in the United States for more than two months in the hope of having the chance to show off his talent. Wasted effort, his efforts did not even allow him to be invited to the NFL “Combine” where university players put themselves on display in front of the teams for the draft.
Far from being discouraged, Duvernay-Tardif admits that he had nevertheless resigned himself to making the jump to the Canadian League, until the flash of genius came from his agent who decided to organize an event of appetizer in Montreal to showcase it and where nine NFL teams deigned to send recruiters. “I think Sacha believed in me more than I believed in myself. »
The future doctor found a way to attract the attention of clubs south of the border by clocking a time of 4.94 seconds in a sprint, which earned him a few interviews and finally hearing his name called at the 200th rank in the 2014 draft to become the first Quebecer since Randy Chevrier to be drafted in the NFL.
As much as he was determined to play football, he was determined to finish his medical degree and he made that clear to the teams he met with. Chiefs coach Andy Reid did not hide his surprise at the young man’s determination. The meeting between the two men was decisive in the success of the Quebec guard.
Even though he helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl against San Francisco in 2020, his journey in Kansas City was not an easy one. He makes no secret of saying that he knew little about American football and that in Missouri, he had to work extra hard to find a place. “I was a newcomer who didn’t have a TV at home and had only just learned the difference between the Super Bowl and the Gray Cup! I had a lot of adjusting to do. This is what was the most difficult to do in terms of integration. »
After a season of observation where he did not play any games, he was delighted to discover after this initial campaign all the confidence that coach Reid could show in him. “Coach Reid told me I had to prepare for my second camp like I was the starting right guard. I came back to Montreal pumped up. I trained all winter and showed up to camp with the mentality to go. »
In Kansas City, LDT could not have done better than to play under the orders of Reid who listened to his ambitions from the start. The latter told him that he was going to support him and he quickly demonstrated by putting words into action. “It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to do it. Two years later, we were playing in London, he told me to go back to Montreal for my orthopedic surgery exam and join the club afterwards. When I had two months of obstetrics and gynecology during the off season, he told me to arrive later for spring camp. All these little things ensured that I was able to progress and they ensured that I wanted to sacrifice myself on the field for the coach he was. »
Duvernay-Tardif evokes with a touch of emotion all the admiration he feels when thinking of his first coach in the NFL. “The greatest leader I have ever met. Not necessarily the most vocal, but the most inspiring. »
He has not forgotten his first game against the Houston Texans who had JJ Watt in their ranks in his second season. He also won’t soon forget that after starting, he was benched before returning when the Chiefs ended up with a 1-5 record, which was followed by ‘a streak of ten victories.
After his third season, he made a life-changing deal that he could hardly believe was coming to fruition. This agreement allowed him to set up a foundation that promotes healthy lifestyle habits among young people, a public health cause that is so close to his heart.
The crowning achievement of his sporting career was of course winning the Super Bowl three years ago, an event that the main person still relives with emotion every time he talks about it. “When we knew we were going to win, I still remember the looks in everyone’s eyes in the caucus. »
Dozens of family members and friends traveled to Miami to experience the moment with him. Even if he doesn’t want football to define his whole life, he knows it will be difficult to find better exhilaration. “It’s such a pure emotion. There are no words to describe. It’s the accomplishment of a lifetime. There won’t be a bigger sporting moment for me. »
2023-09-28 23:52:00
#NFL #Laurent #DuvernayTardif #football #career
