Laurent Duvernay Tardif didn’t expect to be so emotional when he announced his retirement from football last week.
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• Also read: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was moved to tears as he announced his retirement from the NFL
He said this in an interview with Sophie Thibault on TVA Nouvelles.
“It’s emotionally draining,” he said. I didn’t expect to experience it so intensely, but at the same time it’s a big chapter in my life that I’m just starting. I think it’s important to enjoy it to the fullest. I regret nothing.”
The Quebecer returned to the reasons that led him to end his football career, more specifically the arguments against continuing his career.
The risk of injury weighed a large role.
“After winning a Super Bowl, signing a big contract, being drafted, accepting an escape clause, coming back, being traded, it would still have been a shame to end up with an injury,” he explains.
“The risk is difficult to measure,” adds the athlete. You know you’re taking risks, but you have no control over what the opponent is going to do, you have no control over the game, over someone running into your legs like when I broke my fibula. “
He is often described as perfect or having all the talents and says he is tired of that label.
“Yes,” he admits. That is not reality. I think in our society we push a story or a narrative on social media or in the media that is often extremely positive, but the reality of my journey in the NFL is that there have been ups and downs, the reality of medicine [aussi].”
He claims to have several errors.
“There are many deficiencies, from learning to listen to learning to take a stand on issues that I don’t have a good enough handle on,” he claims. I have spent my life studying medical books and traveling around the United States playing soccer, but there are many topics I would learn about to become more knowledgeable. The list is long.”
Between medicine, his foundation and taking over his parents’ bakery, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has no shortage of projects after his football career ends.
Watch the full interview in the video above