NEW YORK (WDAF) — After opting out of the 2020 NFL season to use his degree of medicine on the front lines against the COVID-19 pandemic, Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was named the 2021 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian of the Year at the ESPYS.
“I knew that my purpose this last year was to use my medical background to care for others. My role wasn’t to play football, but instead to be on the front lines of the global pandemic,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
LDT went from celebrating a Super Bowl win to working at a long-term care facility in his home country of Canada.
The Super Bowl winning lineman received his medical degree from McGill Univesiry in Quebec, Canada.
“It was a crisis and they needed help and the hands to face it,” Duvernay-Tardif said. “I just raised my hand up.”
Duvernay-Tardif and the other finalists will be honored during the Sports Humanitarian Awards on July 12.
