BC Lions have announced the signing of NFL veteran Christian Covington, who grew up in Surrey and other areas of Metro Vancouver.

The defensive lineman was originally selected by the Lions in the 2015 CFL Draft, 43rd overall.

鈥淚t鈥檚 truly an honour to come home and play in front of my friends and family,鈥� Covington said in .

鈥淚鈥檝e continued to follow the Lions throughout my professional career and it gives me great excitement to join the team at a pivotal time in franchise history. We all understand and embrace the goal of bringing the Grey Cup back home.鈥�

The six-foot-two, 300-pound Covington moves north to the CFL after dressing in 102 NFL games over the last nine years, with stops in Houston, Dallas, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Detroit.

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 2015. With the Texans, he played in four playoff games from 2015 to 2018.

鈥淚 was born in Vancouver, lived in Richmond, lived in North Delta, and eventually made it out to Surrey 鈥� a great place to grow up, but I鈥檓 a little biased being a Vancouver College Fighting Irish,鈥� Covington said in 2018 when he hosted a football camp at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley.

鈥淎t the end of the day, that鈥檚 my childhood home (in Surrey) and me and my sisters grew up in that home for many years, and nothing but great memories.鈥�

鈥� RELATED STORY, from 2021: .

Before pro football, Covington played at Rice University from 2011 to 2014. His best season was in 2013 where he earned All-Conference USA First-Team honours after recording 43 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and four sacks.

He鈥檚 the son of Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Hamilton star defensive end Grover Covington. Christian was a standout at Vancouver College, helping the Fighting Irish capture the 2010 BC High School championship while also earning Provincial Defensive MVP honours that season.