Very few people know what it’s like to play in the Super Bowl. One of those people, Dr. Jean-Philippe (J.P.) Darche (pronounced “darsh”), treats patients at The Sports Medicine and Performance Center at The University of Kansas Health System. He’s also one of the Kansas City Chiefs team physicians. And it turns out he has a lot in common with a current member of the Super Bowl-bound Chiefs, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who’s also a doctor. In fact, the two graduated from the same medical school in Canada, though several years apart. 

            Dr. Darche, who played for the Chief as a long snapper in 2007 and 2008, was a member of the Seattle Seahawks in 2006 when the team played in the Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though they lost the game, which he says was tough, Darche says it was the experience of a lifetime. In the video, he talks about what it was like, and how players and coaches have to shut out all of the distractions of the event and stay focused on the game. He says it’s satisfying to see his former team, the Chiefs, playing in the Super Bowl, and he’s especially happy for his fellow Canadian, Duvernay-Tardif, who he says has become a good friend. Darche knows how hard is was for Duvernay-Tardif to get his medical degree…he’s the first active NFL player to have one. Darche explains how it’s possible to combine football and academics. He also describes how being a pro athlete has really helped him in treating patients with sports-related injuries.

            The video also shows Dr. Darche on the sidelines of the Chiefs training camp and inside the Chiefs’ practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium.