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Grover Covington terrorized CFL quarterbacks
Source: https://www.cfhof.ca/members/grover-covington/in the 1980s, retiring as the all-time sack leader.
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Grover Covington terrorized Canadian Football League quarterbacks, and when he registered a sack, he put on a show that was a sight to behold.
By the time the dust settled, Covington and his signature sack dance
set the career record for most quarterback sacks with 157, a record that still
stands.
Coming north
Grover Covington arrived in Canada in 1981 from Johnson C. Smith
University in North Carolina, joining the Montreal Alouettes, only to be
traded to the Hamilton Tiger-cats in the pre-season.
He would go on to play his entire career in Hamilton.
Sack master
Covington was the model of consistency; recording at least 10 sacks in
every season he played in the 1980s.
He had 16 sacks in his rookie year, and was selected an Eastern
Division all-star. He followed that up with 12.5 in 1982, and 10 in 1983.
Covington really got rolling in 1984, when he had 18.5 sacks, another
16 in 1985 when he led the league, and 18 in 1986. He was named an Eastern Division and CFL all-star in 1985
and 1986 as well.
This increase in production coincided with the Tiger-cats appearing in
three straight Grey Cups, finally winning in 1986. Covington was voted defensive
player of the game in their championship victory over the Edmonton Eskimos,
after having three quarterback sacks and forcing two fumbles.
The league schedule expanded to 18 games in 1987. Covington continued
to make his living in opposing backfields, sacking 17 quarterbacks in 1987, 25
to lead the league in 1988, one of the highest totals in league history, and 15
in 1989, leading the Tiger-cats to another Grey Cup appearance.
He won the Schenley Award for Most Outstanding Defensive Player in
1988 on the strength of those 25 sacks, and again was an Eastern Division and
CFL all-star in 1988 and 1989, as well as an Eastern all-star in 1987 and 1990.
He also won the James P. McCaffrey Trophy for outstanding defensive player in
the East Division in 1988.
His production tailed off at the tail end of his career when he
registered a still respectable seven sacks in 1990 and two in his final season
in 1991 when he only appeared in five games.
Covington was inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame
in 2000.
The dance
What made every sack Covington recorded so memorable was the sack
dance he did. He used his fingers as two guns, emptying the chambers and
putting them back in the holster. He even shot his guns when he accepted his
Schenley Award on national TV in 1988.
Parting thoughts
I first heard about Christian Covington when he was entering the NFL
draft with three other Canadians. He was being profiled as a pass rusher who
grew up in Vancouver and played his college football for Rice University. I
never made the connection to his dad Grover.
Then, the profile took an interesting twist. Christian did not follow
in his father’s footsteps as one might imagine. He was certainly not pushed by
his dad into football, and did not even start playing until junior high.
However, when he picked up the game, he gravitated to being a pass
rusher – just like dad.
Christian Covington is now going to enter his sixth season in the NFL.
His dad never did get to the NFL, but the CFL gave him an opportunity
to become the dominant pass rusher of his era and the all-time sack leader. He
was a four-time CFL all-star, seven-time Eastern all-star, defensive player of
the year, Eastern Division player of the year and a Grey Cup defensive most
valuable player. He led the league in sacks twice and was in the top 10 eight
of his 11 seasons, and reached double digits in sacks nine of 11 seasons, and
in nine straight seasons.
Christian Covington has 93 tackles, 8.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and
one fumble recovery so far in the NFL.
Who says football can’t be genetic.
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