Super Bowl champion Duvernay-Tardif’s pastry workshop goes up in flames

NFL football player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif announces his retirement from professional football in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

Super Bowl Champion and former Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, owner of the Le Pain dans les Voiles bakeries, announced that a fire destroyed his pastry production facility on Sunday.

The one-time Kansas City Chief made the announcement on Instagram, saying that no one had been injured.

“Today [Sunday] is not a very happy day for Le Pain dans les Voiles. Our pastry workshop, which was making croissants for the whole group, went up in flames," he said.

Duvernay-Tardif then went on to thank the firefighters for their swift intervention.

“Thank you to all the firefighters. I think there were more than a hundred today fighting the flames. If it hadn’t been for you, maybe they [the buildings] would have gone up. So, thank you and we’ll find solutions,’ Duvernay-Tardif concluded.

The first Pain dans les Voiles bakery was opened by Duvernay-Tardif’s parent in 2009.

The artisanal bakery later expanded with stores in Montreal and Saint-Bruno.

Duvernay-Tardif took over from his parents in 2021, and according to Noovo Info, he is a shareholder in the parent company and owns shares in all the bakeries except the one in Saint-Bruno.

Duvernay-Tardif played guard in the NFL from 2014 to 2022, winning a Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs in the 2019-2020 season.

While playing football, he graduated from medical school and opted out of the 2020-21 season to work at the seniors’ care home - the CHSLD Gertrude Lafrance.

He was named an SI Sportsperson of the Year in 2020.