#23 - Tony Covington

Other Pro Experience: Drafted in the fourth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1991...Made his first start as a rookie at Detroit (9/29) and remained in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, starting 11 games at strong safety and one at free safety...Led Buccaneer defensive backs with 84 tackles, inculding 64 solos and two for losses...Broke up five passes...Notched a career-high three interceptions, second among NFL rookies in 1991 behind future Pro Bowler Aeneas Williams of Arizona...Made his first career pick at Green Bay (9/15)...Had the best individual game of his career in an otherwise disastrous 27-0 loss to the Packers (10/27), posting nine tackles, a quarterback pressure, a sack and a fumble recovery...For that effort, he was named the Tums' Neutralizer of the Week by the Buccaneer Radio Network...Named to the All-Rookie team by Football News...All was in place for a breakout season in 1992, as he moved to free safety, his more natural position, on a permanent basis...However, his hopes were dashed when he suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of the opening day game against Phoenix (9/6) and missed the rest of the season...Sat out the 1993 season, as well, when he suffered back problems after starting three preseason games...Finally returned to action in 1994, finishing tenth on the team in solo tackles with 26 and total tackles with 33...Broke up three passes, good for sixth on the team... Made two starts, against Atlanta (10/9) and Minnesota (10/30)...Played in 14 out of 16 games that season...Posted a season-high eight tackles, including seven solo stops, in the Bucs' humbling 36-13 loss to Minnesota (10/30)...Posted his lone interception of the season in the Bucs' return match against the Vikings (11/27), running back the Warren Moon pass 38 yards...Was allowed to sign with Seattle in free agency after the 1994 season; he spent two years with the Seahawks.

College: Graduated as part of the most decorated senior football class to play at the University of Virginia in the school's history up to that point...The Cavaliers went to three bowl games in four seasons for the first time in the school's history (1987 All-American, 1990 Citrus, 1991 Sugar) and also earned the school's first and only No. 1 ranking in football, for the first week of November in 1990...Started 47 out of 49 games in his four years for the Wahoos...Posted 194 tackles, six interceptions and 40 passes defensed at U.Va.... Named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team as a senior and to the All-ACC second team in his junior season...Also named honorable mention All-American in his senior season; he posted 55 tackles, 10 passes defensed and one interception that year.

Personal: Was a standout at Parkland High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he played quarterback and defensive back...Was selected to the All-City and All-State squads in after his senior season (1985)...Lettered in basketball and tennis, in addition to football...Graduated from U.Va. with a degree in Rhetoric and Communication...Resides in Tampa.

AFL Statistics

RECEIVING

Year  Team        REC    YDS    AVG   LG    TD 
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1999  Tampa Bay     -      -      -    -     -
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CAREER TOTALS       -      -      -    -     -

DEFENSE

Year  Team        TKL   AST   SKS   YDS FF-FR   INT   YDS  TD
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1999  Tampa Bay     -     -     -     -     -     -     -   -
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CAREER TOTALS       -     -     -     -     -     -     -   -

Year-by-Year:

AFL Statistics