Chiefs' Laurent Duvernay-Tardif doesn't regret opt-out despite missed Super Bowl

Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif made headlines in July when he opted out of the 2020 NFL season held amid the COVID-19 pandemic after he spent time working as an orderly in a long-term care facility in Montreal. 

The one-time Super Bowl champion, who holds a medical degree, missed a chance to compete alongside his Kansas City teammates versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Super Bowl LV this Sunday, but he recently told NFL Network's Andrea Kremer that he has no regrets. 

"I realized that those elderly patients, they were not going to go back home, either from COVID or something else," Duvernay-Tardif said during an interview with Kremer. "What really mattered? It's not the treatment, it's the caring. Making sure that your patients are comfortable, that they preserve their dignity. It's important to take the time to connect with these people. And I think that, down the road, is going to for sure make me a better physician."

Duvernay-Tardif added: 

"I gotta be able to look at myself 10 years from now when I'm going to be a physician and be like, 'I made the right decision.'" 

While Duvernay-Tardif has earned several personal honors since opting out, one couldn't blame him for having second thoughts upon witnessing the Chiefs return to football's biggest stage. Then again, one gets the feeling the offensive lineman would say he's already fulfilled multiple goals ahead of celebrating his 30th birthday next week.