Former McGill Redmen, Duvernay-Tardif establishes himself in the NFL

The script couldn’t be written any better for offensive lineman, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.

6th round NFL draft pick in 2014, “Larry” has established himself as the starting right guard for the Kansas City Chiefs. At 25 years old, the Mont-St-Hilaire native has done all this while still completing his degree in Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

A recent piece in The Globe and Mail says that in 2015, Laurent became a starter playing in 13 games. This year, he made that 14 starts. It wasn’t an easy adjustment going from the Canadian 3-down football to the American 4-down as well as going from guard to tackle. He also has had to adjust to the calibre of the player that he plays with and against.

(Photo courtesy: Clint Uttley, Shrine Bowl 2014 – #66 L. Duvernay-Tardif with Clint Uttley)

We caught up with former McGill Redmen head coach, Clint Uttley, who said that Laurent’s success was never doubted.

“You could tell from the beginning of Laurent’s second season at McGill, when he was converted into an offensive lineman, that he would go far in football. During the NFL’s evaluation process, I told every scout who would listen that Laurent would be the next Marshal Yanda” said Coach Uttley.

With the added pressure of finishing his medical degree, Duvernay-Tardif doesn’t have a lot of time to waste. His academic schedule is intense to say the least. He is prepared to see his degree to it’s completion, though, no matter the time commitments that it demands. He has approximately 4 months left to satisfy the remainder of the requirements, but may have to wait until 2018 to seal the deal.

“I hope Laurent is able to get a superbowl ring that he can put on his mantle right beside his McGill Medical degree. Don’t be surprised if we don’t see Laurent as one of the premier guards in the NFL in the years to come.” adds Coach Uttley.

The Chiefs have home-field advantage and are seeded second with a bye. With three more games to play, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif may very well end up on the greatest stage of all, the 2017 Super Bowl and wouldn’t that be a terrific way to finish his third NFL season.

 

Canadian @LaurentDTardif entrenched in @Chiefs offensive line | via @globeandmail https://t.co/tOi6hfAVss?

— McGill University (@McGillU) January 6, 2017

 

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