After 143 games started over 10 seasons in the National Football League, it’s safe to trust the playing experience and perspective of retired center Mitch Morse.
Morse was a longtime lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Jacksonville Jaguars from 2015 to 2024. During that span of time, Morse served as a leader and anchor in front of the best quarterbacks to play the game, and he was an excellent technician himself made one Pro Bowl and was always considered among the top centers in the game.
Suffice it to say, when Morse speaks on a football-related topic, he speaks with authority. And that should give newfound emphasis and perspective, for most Chiefs fans at least, on the career of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Morse was recently a guest on the Centered on Buffalo podcast, hosted by former Bills center Eric Wood. The entire conversation is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of linemen and a treasure of information for Bills fans, especially.
Mitch Morse had some surprising insights into former Chiefs’ lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
At one point in the interview, Wood asked Morse an interesting question: “Who is the nastiest o-lineman you ever played on a line with?” Morse’s answer was rather unexpected.
“Either Jon Feliciano or a guy named Laurent Duvernay-Tardif,” said Morse. “He was a French-Canadian. He’s actually a doctor. He was with the Kansas City team for a long time. I don’t know if it’s a French-Canadian thing but the guy just eats cheese, drinks wine, and flies around and doesn’t know when to stop. Remarkable player and absolute mauler.”
Duvernay-Tardif was part of the 2014 NFL Draft class compiled by former Chiefs general manager John Dorsey that also included pass rusher Dee Ford in the first round, corner Phillip Gaines in the third, and fellow lineman Zach Fulton in the sixth.
The Chiefs wouldn’t see Duvernay-Tardif take the field until 2015, but he was entrenched as a starter at right guard in front of Alex Smith (and later Patrick Mahomes) for the next five seasons. After he opted out of the 2020 season (COVID), Duvernay-Tardif was traded to the New York Jets in a midseason deal, where he went on to play another 13 games before retiring.
