Laurent Duvernay-Tardif tells Sports Illustrated he's on the frontlines fighting COVID-19
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif may be a Super Bowl champion, but he's also a champion with a medical degree — and he's putting it to good use.
Less than three months after helping the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl, the Quebec native is volunteering in a long-term care home about an hour outside of Montreal.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Duvernay-Tardif revealed that he began working at the facility on April 24 in "a nursing role" that involves administering medications to patients.
"My first day back in the hospital I felt nervous the night before, but a good nervous, like before a game."@LaurentDTardif, the Chiefs guard with a doctorate in medicine, pens a first-person on moving to the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic https://t.co/0I2QasiX4I
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 27, 2020
Despite playing a game that was watched by more than 100 million people, Duvernay-Tardif said that he felt "nervous" the night before he began working at the long-term care facility.
"It's wild to think that just 10 weeks earlier I played in the biggest game in sports," he said.
"I was reminded of that even at the facility, when one of the people training me turned and said, 'You’re the football player, right?' When I answered yes, he said, 'Bro, you just won the Super Bowl.' Indeed, I told him, and now I just want to help."
Duvernay-Tardif is the first medical school graduate to play in the NFL, and the McGill University graduate makes no secret of his admiration for healthcare workers, frequently supporting fundraising efforts for first responders on his social media channels.
With over 45,000 cases of COVID-19 across Canada, it really is an "all hands on deck" scenario — and it's heartwarming to see Canadian athletes like Duvernay-Tardif rising to the challenge.
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