For the second time in his NFL career, offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is putting his football life on hold to pursue his career in the medical field.
Duvernay-Tardif said he received four NFL contract offers this offseason — but he won’t be accepting any of them. Instead, he’ll be starting a residency program at a Montreal-area hospital later this summer, per The Canadian Press.
The Canadian lineman isn’t retiring from football. In fact, he may even return to the gridiron sometime later this year.
“I’m going to prioritize medicine . . . and we’ll see in September if there’s a fit,” Duvernay-Tardif said. “After eight years in the NFL, and I don’t want to sound pretentious by saying this, but I think I’ve earned the right to do what’s best for me and not just for football and kind of bet on myself a little bit.
“I’m really comfortable with the risk and I’m pretty confident there’s going to be an offer on the table in September if I want it. And if I want it I’ll take it. If medicine is going well and I feel like I’ve got to be out there in front of 80,000 people to play the sport I love, well, I’ll go but I think I want it to be more on my terms.”
Duvernay-Tardif believes NFL opportunities will still be available to him when he finishes his residency program in September.
“I thought it was best I be straightforward and say the best move for me was to start my residency in July but I was open to maybe making a move in September,” he added. “Interestingly, some teams were pretty open to that idea.
“I have another passion that I’ve worked hard the past 14 years to maintain with the requirement of football… and I can’t jeopardize that after all I’ve done.”
Duvernay-Tardif earned his doctorate in medicine and a master’s degree in surgery from McGill University in 2018. His four-year window to complete residency is almost up.
After helping the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory in 2019, Duvernay-Tardif opted out of the 2020 season to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at a Montreal long-term care facility.
He was named as one of Sports Illustrated’s 2020 Sportspersons of the year for his efforts.