Kansas City Chiefs were unable to win back-to-back Super Bowls, as they lost to Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Super Bowl LV, but they can be proud of one player who was missing for them, guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Sunday night was supposed to be all about Patrick Mahomes vs Tom Brady, but the Kansas City quarterback had no chance against the now seven time Super Bowl winner.
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On a couple of occasions Mahomes did manage to find teammates with his passes they didn't convert chances but more often than not the QB was left in trouble.
Time and time again the Tampa Bay lineman got through to attack Mahomes, who surely would have been better off with Duvernay-Tardif in front of him.
The Canadian has been missing for the Chiefs all season. The 29-year-old, who went to medical school, decided to opt out of the season this year, due to fears of Covid-19.
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Whilst being out of action during the Chiefs second run to the Super Bowl in-a-row, Duvernay-Tardif has been working as an orderly at Montreal long-term care facility.
"It's going to be tough, but at the same time, I know that I'm really privileged," the guard said to People about missing the Super Bowl ahead of the game.
The Canadian had spent several months at the facility in Montreal before becoming the first NFL player to opt out of the season back in July, revealed he couldn't walk away from his patients.
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"It was by far the hardest decision I've ever had to make. You're coming off a Super Bowl, the team's looking really good, you're in a good shape, you want to go back, you want to win. That's that simple.
"But at the same time, I felt like I was saying - after witnessing everything on the frontline - I was like, 'Maybe this year, my job is here, my role is here in Montreal.'"
Talking to the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City star explained how he'd be watching Sunday, saying, "Right now in Montreal, we have a curfew, so you've got to be home by yourself by 8 o'clock, so I'll be watching the game by myself, because that's all I can do.
"...I'm not a big game jersey (wearing) guy when I watch TV. I try to focus on what the O-line is doing, which sometimes is kind of frustrating because you don't see anything when you watch the TV angle."
It's fair to say he probably wouldn't have been too pleased with what little of the o-line he would have seen, with Mahomes almost constantly under pressure.
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USA Today Sports report that Duvernay-Tardif is expected to return to action for the Chiefs next season, and so will RB Damien Williams, who missed the season to take care of his mother who is battling cancer.
When the guard does return he will do so having been named as Sports Illustrated as one of their Sportspeople of the Year and the co-winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy, for Canada's top athlete, and it's obvious why.
He may have missed his team's Super Bowl appearance but it's for nothing short of an incredible reason, what a man!
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