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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The long hours Laurent Duvernay-Tardif spends at practice will seem like a vacation of sorts. The playbook will seem like a comic book. Success would be sweet, failure merely a disappointment. The moment he heard his name called in the sixth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, the Montreal native went from being a medical student at McGill University spending 60 hours a week in neonatal intensive care units to an aspiring offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. You see, in a draft full of intriguing stories, Doc Larry is especially unique. After all, how many 23-year-olds are late to their advisers house to watch the draft because they were helping to deliver twins by emergency C-section? And how many NFL hopefuls have spent their spring working at childrens hospitals, first in the emergency room and later in the NICU, often handling babies that fit comfortably in his massive hands? How many players who heard their names called over the three days of the draft have just one more year of medical school before they can call themselves a doctor? Duvernay-Tardif plans to fit that in during summers, when he is able to take a break from football. But for now, his focus has shifted entirely to the Chiefs. He planned to be in Kansas City this week for rookie orientation, with a three-day rookie minicamp starting May 24. "Thing is that a year ago, my dream was to play in the CFL," said Duvernay-Tardif, who played so well at the East-West Shrine Game that several teams — including the Chiefs — took notice. "At that point, I was like, Oh, damn! I think the NFL is the place for me to play," he said. "Everything went well after that. I was training in the States. I had two visits and hosted my own Pro Day in Montreal and a few teams showed up. Everything went really well for me." Lets be clear about one thing: Theres a good chance that Duvernay-Tardif is a better doctor than he is a football player at this point. The competition in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport system — which has produced 10 draft picks total — is not exactly the same as the Southeastern Conference. McGill is not Alabama, having produced one other draft choice — a long-snapper taken by Jacksonville in 2001. Some of the rules of the Canadian game are also a bit different. Then throw in the fact that Doc Larry will be going against players bigger, faster and stronger than ever before, and chances are hell be in for a rude baptism when he finally straps on a Chiefs helmet. "Competition (in Canada) is really a step backward," said Pat Sperduto, the teams area scout, "(but) football is blocking and tackling. Nothing changes there. Its still the same there. You just watch him, you realize that this kid has physical talent." For one thing, he has prototypical size at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds. He also has what Sperduto called a "nasty" streak on the field, which is a bit hard to reconcile with the affable med student who has been spending his time working with sick children. "The potential that he has ahead of him is really good," general manager John Dorsey said. "Now hes going to have to learn, but what he demonstrated at the East-West Game, he actually played at a very high level. He did very well. When you have a player like that — hes got so much more room to grow." The Chiefs lost three players who started along the offensive line on the first day of free agency, and while Kansas City made a few moves to counter the departures, there is still a pressing need for offensive line depth. Duvernay-Tardif could provide some of it. "I think when you play football, you have to play 100 per cent," Duvernay-Tardif said. "When I went to the Shrine game, I said, Lets compete until you hear the whistle, and thats what Im going to do at training camp. And hopefully Im going to be able to compete for a spot." And if things dont work out? He certainly has a fallback plan. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. Cheap Air Force 1 .com) - The Calgary Flames were again involved in a game in which a team was held scoreless, only this time they came out on the winning side. http://www.airforceforsalecheap.com/ . Behind the talents of rookie Johnny Gaudreau, the Flames will look to keep pace Thursday night when they face the Minnesota Wild in the second of a six-game homestand. Nike Air Force 1 Clearance . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. Cheap Air Force Ones For Sale . Selected by the Titans in the 2007 NFL Draft, Johnson rejoined the club last season after a five-year stint with Indianapolis.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss sports off-day, the MLB All-Star game, Canadas field lacrosse team and Huston Streets comments upon being traded. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is up to Wednesday of this past week. Now, you probably read and heard a lot of sympathetically depressed moaning about how it was the slowest sports day of the year - no baseball, no hockey, no basketball, no football, and nothing to entertain those in search of sports except... Well, Major League Soccer, the Tour de France, and the ESPYs, featuring Drake. Thats hardly nothing, the semi-vacancy of the ESPYs aside, but you know what? Good. We could use some time with less sports. The days are packed with sports. Christmas day is basically a basketball tournament now. We could use some time to breathe, take a walk, reconnect with family, learn to make a bookshelf. Sports are fun, no question. But how can we miss them when they wont go away? Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun My thumb is down to major league baseball, the Minnesota Twins and broadcasters of the All-Star game for failing to appropriately recognize the passing of Tony Gwynn just one month ago. Its not like Gwynn was just another player. He was a 15-time All-Star, perhaps the most beloved figure in a game with not enough beloved figures, and yet somehow there was no tribute to Gwynn throughout the three hour Derek Jeter infomercial that we endured. And I have nothing but regard for Derek Jeter, who has had a storied career; but there should have been something for Gwynn. For the fans. For baseball. A moment of silence. Some words of tribute. Something. At least Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles had it right.dddddddddddd He wrote in marker on his baseball cap the initials TG with the number 19. He had the sense of moment baseball didnt have. Gary Lawless, TSN Radio My thumb is up to Canadas national mens field lacrosse team for winning the world championship last night. Canada defeated the U.S., handing the Americans just their third loss in tournament history dating back to 1967. All three of those U.S. losses have come to Canada and all three in championship games, 1978, 2006 and now 2014. Lacrosse is our national sport but its box lacrosse most Canadians play, not field. In fact, Canada has never lost a box lacrosse game at the worlds. Winning the field championship doesnt qualify as a shock but more of a nice surprise. Congrats to Team Canada, who just so happened to be one of the youngest teams weve ever sent to the worlds, and will be a very serious threat to repeat in 2018. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the refreshing comments of relief pitcher/closer Huston Street as he departed the bottom-feeding San Diego Padres for the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels. There would be lots to say about the horrible state of the Padres franchise, but street said this; "I believe in the ownership--they want to win--theyre not satisfied with the status quo. I blame the players for what has happened here." Well, even though theres plenty of blame to go around and it does extend to the front office and to ownership - the Padres field a lineup that is not of big-league quality - Street is quite right, as a player, to let others find fault with others and to say that, of all the reasons teams lose, the biggest reason is always that players perform badly. ' ' '