Why choose between playing professional football and having a career in medicine when you can do both? That’s the path Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is on, and ever-so-delicately balancing.
The 26-year-old four-year NFL veteran from Montreal, Quebec studies medicine at McGill University when he’s not on the gridiron, and he told CBS Sports he’s on track to pass his final medical school exam in May.
“Stepping on that field with ‘Dr.’ on the back of my jersey is going to be the ultimate accomplishment,” he said.
Duvernay-Tardif spends his off seasons at the Canadian university, and in fact, when he first enrolled there, football wasn’t even on his radar.
Photo: McGill University
“When he came to McGill, we actually had to go and recruit him in a classroom because he didn’t want to play anymore, because he was too busy with med school,” former McGill head coach Mathieu Quiviger said.
Realizing that he needed an outlet to balance all his time hitting the books, Duvernay-Tardif joined the team, and excelled to the point where NFL scouts took notice.
He was projected to be a second or third round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, but couldn’t watch the actual draft because he was on a pediatric rotation at a hospital in Montreal.
“An hour before, we received a call from the birthing center that the lady who was going into premature labor with twins ended up in the O.R. for an emergency c-section. I just rushed into the O.R. and I give my cell phone to one of the nurses before scrubbing in, and I just told her, ‘You know what, if somebody calls, just say yes.’ I want to be on any team. Don’t argue. Just say ‘Yes.’
So, how does the big man hold down two intense jobs?
According to Global News, he spent this past offseason on clinical rounds seeing patients and training in anesthesia in the mornings. His afternoons were spent in the gym, getting his body ready for a full NFL season.
He signed a five-year extension with the Chiefs this offseason, which means his balancing act will continue on.
And, even though he’s still in medical school, teammates are coming to him for advice on injuries and illnesses.
“I think that it’s kind of funny because at the end of the day, I’m a medical student, and there’s a lot of expert physicians in the locker room, so I tend to stay away from making diagnoses,” he told Global News.
Here’s the feature CBS Sports did on him.
Duvernay-Tardif is nursing a sprained knee right now, and thus, didn’t play in week 5. But, if there’s one NFL player who knows the ins and outs of getting back to ‘healthy,’ it’s this soon-to-be doctor.
