Christian Covington is on his way to L.A. to join some fellow Canadian football players.
The Surrey-raised defensive lineman, 27, has agreed to contract terms with Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL team announced Monday (May 10).
Originally a sixth-round selection by Houston Texans in 2015, Covington has appeared in 82 career NFL games, starting in 29 of them.
“Covington saw his most significant defensive impact last season for the Cincinnati Bengals, where he started 14-of-16 games played and set a career high with 39 tackles,” says a post on the Chargers’ website. “Covington has posted 8.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for loss and forced a fumble over the course of his career.”
Covington is the fifth Canadian-born player on the Chargers’ roster, including incoming rookies.
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— Christian Covington (@thetangibleC4) May 10, 2021
On Twitter, Chargers fans applauded what is seen as a “depth move” by the franchise.
“Y’all got a good one,” replied the NFL Canada account.
Covington, son of CFL Hall of Fame defensive end Grover Covington, grew up in the Sullivan Heights area of Surrey, where his family held a party the day he was drafted by the Texans in May of 2015.
“I was born in Vancouver, lived in Richmond, lived in North Delta, and eventually made it out to South Surrey — a great place to grow up, but I’m a little biased being a Vancouver College Fighting Irish,” Covington told the Now-Leader in 2018, when he hosted a football camp at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley.
“At the end of the day, that’s my childhood home (in Surrey) and me and my sisters grew up in that home for many years, and nothing but great memories.”
• READ MORE: VIDEO: Surrey-raised Covington and fellow NFLers teach kids football skills.
In 2019, after a few seasons with the Texans, Covington signed a one-season deal with state rival Dallas Cowboys. A later year, he agreed to a contract with Denver Broncos before the team traded him to the Bengals four months later, in exchange for linebacker Austin Calitro.
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