B.C. Lions sign veteran NFL defensive lineman Christian Covington

VANCOUVER – Christian Covington is coming home.

The veteran defensive lineman signed with the B.C. Lions on Wednesday. The CFL club originally drafted Covington, a Vancouver native, in the fifth round, No. 43 overall, in the 2015 CFL draft.

The six-foot-two, 300-pound Covington joins the Lions after playing in 102 NFL regular-season games over nine seasons. He was a 2015 sixth-round pick of the Houston Texans and appeared in 50 contests over four seasons with the franchise, registering 39 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

The 30-year-old Covington, who played his college football at Rice (2011-14), also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys (2019), Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals (2020), Los Angeles Chargers (2021-22, 2023) and Detroit Lions (2023).

Covington’s father, Grover, was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000 following a stellar CFL career as a defensive end with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1981-91).

The elder Covington amassed a CFL-record 157 sacks over his tenure in Canada. He was also a four-time league all-star, the ’86 Grey Cup’s top defensive player and CFL outstanding defensive player in 1988.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.