Making playoffs ‘isn’t good enough anymore’ for Christian Covington, Lions
VANCOUVER — The BC Lions know what it will take to achieve greatness this year.
The Leos believe they have the right roster in place and the drive and ambition to be a Grey Cup contender. Add to that the new leadership in Ryan Rigmaiden and Buck Pierce at general manager and head coach respectively and you have a group that only cares about one thing: winning.
Garry Peters is going into his seventh season as a Lion, and while on an individual level he hopes to stay healthy and play all 18 games, his sights are set on being a solid teammate and doing the best he can at his position.
“I want to have more interceptions than I’ve ever had in my career, the most I’ve had in a season is probably five or six, so anything over that,” said Peters.
“I don’t have any other personal goals, because I’ve been playing for so long, and every time I achieve a goal it’s cool, like, All-CFLs are cool, leading the league in interceptions, all those things are cool, but it’s nothing better than what it feels like going to the Grey Cup, that’s the most important thing.”
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DB Garry Peters has been named to the All-CFL team twice (2022, 2023) (CFL.ca)
Just getting to the Grey Cup isn’t the goal for Peters or the Lions either – it’s winning it.
Personal goals won’t cut it if the team goal isn’t met. With one of the most talented group of receivers in the league, a revamped offensive line, and a hunger to come back stronger after last season’s Western Semi-Final loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the team wants nothing short than to go all the way.
“I don’t want to just go to the Grey Cup, but I want to win a Grey Cup. For me, the season will be a failure, all my goals will be a failure if we don’t go to the Grey Cup,” said Peters.
The same goes for Christian Covington, who played his first CFL season in 2024, recording 29 tackles and six sacks, appearing in all 18 regular season games plus the Western Semi-Final.
Bringing a veteran football presence to the team and bolstering an already strong defensive corps for the Lions, Covington’s individual goal of improving his game benefits the team’s needs as well.
“I just want to do better than what I did last season. I was fairly successful with my first season under my belt in the league, but there’s always room for improvement. There’s always room for bettering yourself, bettering your skillset,” said Covington.
“I just want to pick back up where I left off and be able to continue helping my team in whichever position they put me in,” added Covington. “Whatever scheme that they put me in, whatever scheme that they have built around this defence.”
Covington knows exactly what he and his team can bring to the table, and working as a unit to achieve that goal of not just being a contender, but being a champion, is what the team is currently focused on.
Playoffs are no longer the goal, but the expectation, and the team’s off-season has proven that they are all in on each other and making it to the Grey Cup.
“Making it to the playoffs, this isn’t good enough anymore. This team is too talented. This team has too much talent, too much work that’s been put in,” said Covington.
“It has to click for us, and we have the talent to back it up,” continued the defensive lineman. “We have the right coaches in this staff to be able to help us get there as well. It starts with the players themselves, and it starts with the ability to hold ourselves accountable, to know that when things go bad, it’s all good. It’s part of football. It’s part of life. We’ve got to make that next move. We’ve got to be able to transition to the next section, on the next series, the next drive, whatever the situation that calls for it in the game. We need to capitalize on the team that we have.”
