Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has opted out of the 2020 season, he wrote on social media, becoming the critical NFL participant to publicly affirm he acquired’t swimsuit up this yr.
Duvernay-Tardif, 29, is a scientific college graduate from McGill College in Canada, and he had been assisting as an fine in an extended-time length care facility in the Montreal build all around the coronavirus pandemic.
In his social media put up, he called the choice one of essentially the most refined ones he has made in his life.
“Being on the frontline all over this offseason has given me a heaps of perspective on this pandemic and the stress it puts on folks and our healthcare design,” he wrote. “I will be succesful of not enable myself to potentially transmit the virus in our communities simply to play the sport that I esteem. If I’m to remove risks, I will execute it caring for sufferers.”
Chiefs huge receiver Tyreek Hill applauded his teammate’s decision on Twitter, a put up that changed into once retweeted by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Based mostly on an agreement well-liked by each and each the league and union on Friday, avid gamers regarded as high possibility to COVID-19 can impact $350,000 and an accrued NFL season in the occasion that they buy to opt out of the 2020 season. Gamers without possibility can impact $150,000 for opting out. Duvernay-Tardif changed into once scheduled to perform $2.75 million this season.
Gamers have seven days from the time the agreement is officially signed, seemingly Monday, to perform a decision about whether to opt out for the season.
Duvernay-Tardif has been the Chiefs’ initiating appropriate guard for the past 5 seasons, and he played every offensive snap all over their Expansive Bowl LIV web over the San Francisco 49ers in February.