Christian Covington heads into sophomore NFL season with 'Tiger Mom' in his corner, and ear

By Jamie Thomas

Christian Covington is entering his second year in the NFL and is trying to make a name for himself as a defensive tackle with the Houston Texans. 

And speaking of names, Covington’s is well known around the Canadian Football League. Christian’s father Grover is the CFL’s all-time sack leader and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000. But while dad terrorized opposing quarterbacks for 11 seasons, he isn’t the most intimidating presence in the Covington household.

That would be Natasha, also known as “Tiger Mom”. That nickname has nothing to do with trying to connect Mrs. Covington with her husband’s ties to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

"Anybody who knows my dad they know him as the calm, cool, collected, you know the great gentle giant that he is. But anybody who knows my mom (Natasha) it’s safe to say she’s tiger mom," Christian told 55 Yard Line recently.

"It's something about her parenting skills, it’s something about her coaching skill set as well. She lit that fire for me in football, she lit that fire for my baby sisters to go to, you know Georgia (Asianna) and Cornell (Autumn) for track and field. She’s doing something right."

Christian went to high school and played football at Vancouver Prep College. It was during his Grade 11 year that Christian said Natasha delivered the ultimate Tiger Mom moment.

"We were at a UBC camp, The Thunderbirds, they put on a little high school camp for a lot of guys around the lower mainland,’ said Christian, a 6-foot-2, 289-pound defensive lineman. Obviously my dad was there, he was the D-line coach, and we were competing against a lot of the top teams in B.C.

“My Grade 11 year was when Terry Fox (Secondary School) was up top of the rankings, they had so many weapons. To my luck, I had to go against Sukh Chungh (now an offensive lineman with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers). remember going against him in one-on-ones and I got twisted up with him and I messed my back up like bad. I was thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know how well I’m going to do and how I’m going to be able to continue with this camp’. My dad was there and he saw me (get hurt) and he called my mom and he was like ‘Something’s wrong with Christian’ and she (said) ‘Put him on the phone’. So I got on the phone and she gave me a little speech. She was like ‘C’mon now, you gotta do what you gotta do, there’s gonna be days a lot worse than this’.

“All I know is I killed it the rest of camp. I finally got home and I told her what actually happened to my back and what the doctor said and she was like ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry’. That was a real Tiger Mom moment.”

Bill O’Brien may want to have Natasha’s number on speed dial this season, although the Texans head coach isn’t shy about voicing his opinion when he doesn’t like what he sees . . . or hears.