Covington joins UVa. football broadcast team

Virginia Sports Properties, a division of CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, the multimedia rights partner of the University of Virginia athletics department, announced today that former Cavalier football player Tony Covington has joined the Virginia Sports Network. Covington will serve as analyst with play-by-play announcer Dave Koehn on Virginia broadcasts during the 2012 football season.

Covington lettered for the Cavaliers from 1987 to 1990. As a junior he was a member of UVa’s ACC Championships team that became the first Cavalier squad to be ranked No. 1. He earned second-team All-ACC honors at cornerback as both a junior and senior.

Covington started 47-of-49 games during his career and played in the 1987 All-American Bowl, the 1990 Citrus Bowl and the 1991 Sugar Bowl. During his Virginia career he had 194 tackles and six interceptions.

He was selected by Tampa Bay in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL draft. He made his way into the Bucs starting lineup as a rookie, finishing with 84 tackles and three interceptions. He suffered a knee injury in 1992 that limited him to one game and forced him to miss the entire 1993 season. He returned for the 1994 season and then signed with the Seattle Seahawks for the 1995 season. He later played the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League in 1999.

A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Covington attended Parkland High School. He graduated from Virginia with a degree in rhetoric and communication.

Covington currently resides in Philadelphia where he is the director of the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Philadelphia Chapter.

“I’m extremely excited to once again work with my UVa family. It is truly an honor and a privilege,” said Covington.  “UVa has and will always be near and dear to my heart and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside a veteran like Dave Koehn.  Coach London and his staff are doing great things with the program and I feel that the future is extremely bright for Cavalier Football.”

Covington replaces former UVa player and long-time analyst Frank Quayle who retired from the booth after 29 years behind the microphone.

“We’ll definitely miss that wealth of historical knowledge that Frank brought to the booth, but we’re excited about what Tony will bring to our broadcasts,” said Dave Koehn, Director of Broadcasting at Virginia Sports Properties and Voice of the Cavaliers.  “Tony was a passionate member of the this football program as a player and we’re excited to see him bring that same level of enthusiasm and insight to our network.”

Virginia Sports Properties will also incorporate a new sideline reporter into the broadcasts this year as Jay James will take over those duties.  James is the long-time sports director at Virginia Sports Network Flagship Station 1070 WINA.  James replaces former Cavalier great, Chris Slade, who stepped down from the position this off-season to pursue other interests.