Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is a Canadian football player and physician – the fourth medical school
graduate to play in the National Football League (NFL) and the first active player to hold a
medical degree. He is also an avid sailor since childhood.
Duvernay-Tardif was born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, and grew up in Montréal. He first
played football at age 14. Determined to follow his dreams, as a young man, he even played
“double duty,” studying toward a degree in medicine, and playing university and professional
football – at the same time!
Duvernay-Tardif attended McGill University, playing on the McGill Men’s football team from
2010 to 2013. In his final year, he received the J. P. Metras Trophy, for his excellence as the best
lineman in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport system, and he was named an All-Canadian for the
second consecutive season. In 2018, he graduated, receiving his medical degree from McGill
University.
In 2014, Duvernay-Tardif joined the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team, and played on the team until 2021.
In February 2020, the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV, their first championship in 50 years.
He later joined the New York Jets, and is still a member of that team.
In 2017, Duvernay-Tardif and his long-time partner, Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau, established
the Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Foundation, under the motto Move, Motivate, Inspire, to promote
balancing sports, arts and studies in the lives of children and youth.
In 2019, Duvernay-Tardif was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. In 2020, with
the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, he stepped away from football to focus on his work
as an orderly at a Montréal long-term care centre.
For this humanitarian work in helping to care for a very vulnerable population during the
pandemic, Duvernay-Tardif received the Sports Illustrated 2020 Sportsperson of the Year award
and the 2021 ESPY Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. For his efforts both on and off
the field in 2020, Duvernay-Tardif was named a co-winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy, awarded
annually to Canada’s top athlete.
In October 2022, Duvernay-Tardif wrote his memoir about how he balanced his work as a
medical professional and as an NFL football player during the pandemic. The book is called
“Red Zone: From the Offensive Line to the Front Line of the Pandemic,” published by
HarperCollins.
In February 2023, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was as national spokesperson for Quebec’s
province-wide “Journées de la persévérance scolaire” (“Hooked on School Days”), encouraging
youth to reach for their goals.
Also in February 2023, the Canadian Coast Guard appointed Duvernay-Tardif as its first
Honorary Captain. In this role, he will act as an ambassador, promoting the mission and values
of the Canadian Coast Guard. Duvernay-Tardif was chosen for this honour for several reasons,
including his dedication to community service, his renown as a public figure, and the integrity he
brings to all his endeavours.
(Sources: Wikipedia; various news sources)
Recent Comments