NFL: Canadian is first active player to graduate as an M.D.
MONTREAL— In a black gown and a red tie, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif looked at ease making small talk with fellow graduates. His name was announced, dozens of cheers erupted and a moment eight years in the making was finally complete: The Kansas City Chiefs guard was now the NFL’s first active player to become a medical doctor.
After the ceremony Tuesday morning, Duvernay-Tardif put on a white lab coat with his red Chiefs No. 76 on the back, now complete with the prefix “Dr.”
“It sounds pretty cool,” he laughed. “It’s an awesome feeling. That’s what has fed me over the past four years, whenever I’ve had challenges or obstacles in front of me, to continue to pursue both at the same time.”
While the typical medical school journey in Canada is roughly four years, DuvernayTardif — who was drafted by the Chiefs in the sixth round in 2014 — had to delay his courses because of his burgeoning football career.
As an offensive lineman playing collegiate football for McGill University here, he would often show up to practices in scrubs.
After he was selected by the Chiefs, he still had a full year of medical school to complete. He and the faculty agreed to split the remaining courses into three four-month segments, the last of which ended this spring.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid has a personal connection to Duvernay-Tardif’s pursuit of medicine — his mother was one of the first women to graduate from the McGill University Faculty of Medicine. When Reid first met Duvernay-Tardif, he immediately threw his support behind the lineman’s goal of becoming a doctor.
Two weeks ago, Reid and Duvernay-Tardif began talking about having “M.D.” on the back of his jersey, and an official request has been made with the league. His Chiefs teammates have even started soliciting his medical advice in the locker room, even though Duvernay-Tardif will not begin practicing medicine until his playing days are over.
“A lot of guys ask medical questions, which is funny,” he said. “They’ll be like, ‘Hey I have a sore shoulder. What’s going on?’”