Super Bowl winner Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will not be available to the Kansas City Chiefs in the upcoming NFL season.
The offensive lineman, who worked as a medical professional in the midst of the corona crisis, said that he is exercising his right to withdraw from his contract this year.
The experience of dealing directly with the virus would have prompted him to take this step.
“I got a different view of this pandemic and saw the strain that people and the health system are exposed to. I can’t afford to spread this virus in society just because I want to do the sport that I love,” he wrote on Twitter: “If I take a risk, it’s because I care for patients.”
“Opt-out option” used for the first time
This is “one of the most difficult decisions of my life, but I have to follow my conviction and do what I personally think is right,” said Duvernay-Tardif.
The 29-year-old, who has had a medical degree since 2018, is foregoing a lot of money. In fact, he would have received $ 2.75 million this season. Now it is “only” 150,000 dollars (128,700 euros).
This step is made possible by a clause that was concluded between the NFL and the players’ union NFLPA.
Duvernay-Tardif, who won the Super Bowl alongside star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in early February, is the first player to use this “opt-out option”.
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