Getty Former Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champion guard, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (right).
Last we heard from former Kansas City Chiefs starting offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, he decided to step away from the NFL for the second time.
As you might already know, the dual-career athlete doubles as a physician. During the COVID-19 pandemic, “LDT” opted out admirably in order to help on the frontlines and provide medical care. He did return in 2021 before being traded to the New York Jets — where he started seven games.
Now Duvernay-Tardif is a free agent once again, voicing to ESPN that he’s going to “prioritize medicine” this summer and see if “there’s a fit” in September. Of course, the perfect fit might be one that’s closer to home.
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Montreal Attempts to Coax LDT out of Sabbatical
The ex-NFL champion was born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec and his foundation does a lot of work in the greater Montreal area. It’s one of the reasons Duvernay-Tardif might have welcomed a trade to New York, which is a shorter distance to his native region than Kansas City.
It appears a CFL franchise is attempting to capitalize on that close-to-home factor, as the Montreal Alouettes have acquired LDT’s rights from the Calgary Stampeders.
The trade occurred on July 14 and according to the press release, Montreal sent Calgary two conditional draft picks — a second and a first-round swap. Here were the details:
If [Duvernay-Tardif] signs with the Alouettes, or any other CFL team, in 2022 (or any subsequent season), Montreal will send its second round pick to Calgary. Also, the Stampeders would have the option to swap their first-round picks in the subsequent draft, if the Alouettes pick is higher than that of the Stampeders. If Montreal does not have a first-round pick the following season, Calgary would retain this right for the following season.
In theory, the deal may never happen but if it does, that’s a lot to give up for a 31-year-old guard that has a history of pausing his career.
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Alouettes Use ‘M.D. Letters’ to Entice LDT
The story got quirkier from there, as Montreal is apparently pulling out all the stops to finalize this trade and get Duvernay-Tardif on the field.
“He would finally be able to wear the letters M.D. on the back of his jersey like he has been wanting to do,” tempted Alouettes’ general manager Danny Maciocia.
I’m not sure if the addition of an M.D. would be a football first around the globe, but it would be a pretty nice touch from Montreal. Symbolically speaking, the long-awaited convergence of football and medicine would put the perfect cap on his impressive career as both a doctor and athlete.
LDT could also represent his home region on the field for the first time since college.
Maciocia echoed that during his explanation of the move: “We are happy to have proceeded with this transaction. Laurent is a football icon in Montreal and Quebec. We can only be winners in this transaction because even if Laurent never wears an Alouettes’ uniform, he will be able to openly support his hometown team without feeling any remorse… We wish him the best success with his football career moving forward, and are satisfied knowing that if he does play in Canada, he will do so in a city and a stadium that he knows very well.”
Forever a 2019 Super Bowl champion, Duvernay-Tardif appeared in 66 combined regular and postseason games for the Chiefs, starting 63 of them, and was always a steady force on the KC offensive line.