Birds of a feather: Britain Covey, Tanner McKee share connection that goes beyond the gridiron

Before becoming Philadelphia Eagles teammates, wide receiver/punt return specialist Britain Covey and backup quarterback Tanner McKee knew about each other but they had never met.

A year ago, when McKee joined the team, they established a fast and strong connection, which isn’t surprising since they have plenty in common.

Among other things, both served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Covey in Chile and McKee in Brazil); they played collegiately at schools that competed in the Pac-12 (Covey at Utah and McKee at Stanford); and they attend the same Latter-day Saint ward in downtown Philadelphia.

The 5-foot-8 Covey, who’s entering his third NFL season, is happy to have the 6-6 McKee, who’s entering his second campaign, in the Eagles locker room.

“Tanner’s the best. He’s so tall and big but he’s one of the nicest guys on the team,” the former Utes star said. “It’s really nice to have someone like that on the team, especially as a quarterback. You want someone that’s even-keeled, like Tanner, who’s a nice guy and a good leader. We have fun.”

While Covey and McKee didn’t know each other before becoming Eagles, Covey’s best friend and former teammate at Timpview High, Gabe Reid, played with McKee at Stanford.

Covey and McKee had their first conversation after McKee was drafted in April 2023.

“It was a quick introduction and a friendship was formed,” Covey said.

Because Covey and McKee both served missions, their teammates frequently ask them about their experiences living in South America for two years.

“It comes up all the time. They love to talk about it. It’s one of the favorite lunch conversations — stories from my mission,” Covey said. “Most people haven’t lived outside of the country. Tanner and I love to tell stories from the mission and talk about what it’s like. A lot of it is in a joking manner but a lot of people respect it and love to ask questions about the church.”

Dispelling misconceptions

Covey and McKee see those conversations as a way to clear up misconceptions and misperceptions about the church.

“If you were only to know about Mormonism based on what’s on Netflix, you’d probably think we’re crazy,” Covey said. “It’s great to give people a new experience with members of the church and let them know that we’re normal, fun people.”

Another Latter-day Saint joined the Eagles during the offseason when Kellen Moore was hired as offensive coordinator.

“He’s really well-respected across the league,” Covey said about Moore. “I feel like I’ll be able to learn a lot from him.”

Outside of work, Covey and McKee spend considerable time together. Covey’s wife, Leah, and McKee’s wife, Lauren, have also become friends.

“As young couples, it makes it really fun and easy to do things together,” Covey said. “That’s what’s nice about the church, you have a built-in community from the moment you arrive somewhere.”

Lauren has babysat the Coveys’ young son, Nelson Jude.

“Once (the McKees) have a kid, we’ll do the same for them,” Covey said. “It’s great. Nothing’s worse than having to pay for both the date and the babysitter. We have a bunch of couples in the ward that we do baby swaps with.”

“There are several medical students in our ward. We’ll hang out and have game nights,” McKee said. “At Christmastime, we’ll walk around and see the Christmas lights together.”

While many of the Eagles players live in nearby New Jersey, McKee and Covey decided to live in Philadelphia.

“While we don’t have kids, we wanted to try city life and see if we like it. We honestly love it,” McKee said. “Everyone here are so diehard Eagles fans, it’s super fun to be a part of. Everyone is wearing Eagles gear. Being a part of a community that is so invested in their sports teams is fun to be around. Lauren hangs out with a lot of the girlfriends and wives on the team, as well as people we know from church. She has her own friend group.”

Faith and football

During the season, of course, with most games played on Sundays, it’s difficult to attend sacrament meeting. But Covey and McKee make Sabbath observance and worship a priority.

“Obviously, with 1 o’clock games, we can’t go to church. But we had quite a few night games this year,” Covey said. “So Tanner and I would go to church together. We’d go to sacrament meeting and then drive to the facility and just get ready for the game. We did that four or five times this year. Other than that, my bishop gives me permission to do the sacrament in the hotel room that I’m at.”

Both McKee and Covey are looking forward to the Eagles’ historic season-opener on Sept. 6 in São Paulo, Brazil, against the Green Bay Packers, at Corinthians Arena. It will mark the first NFL game ever played in South America.

The Eagles’ starting quarterback is Jalen Hurts. Behind him is McKee, who signed a four-year contract during the offseason, Kenny Pickett and Will Grier.

McKee, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Eagles, said he landed in the ideal place.

“It’s so crazy how you never know. I got drafted a little lower than I was expecting. I was a little bit bummed out and disappointed,” he said. “But everything ended up working out, being with an unbelievable organization with a great owner and great coaches. We’re going to play in Brazil. We’ve got Kellen Moore. It’s going great. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m excited to continue to ride.”

Big returns

As for Covey, he led the NFL with a career-high 417 punt return yards in 2023. He finished as the only player with multiple 50-plus yard punt returns (2) while leading the NFL in punt returns of 10-plus yards (16, tied), 15-plus yards (13), 20-plus yards (seven) and 25-plus yards (five, tied).

Covey had produced the most punt returns (62) and punt return yards (725) in the NFL since 2022.

“Every year in the NFL, it’s difficult to make the squad, obviously. It’s going to be another challenge this year,” he said. “But that’s kind of the story of my career, being doubted and overcoming it. I have a lot of confidence that I’ll be able to do that again.”

Last year, Covey missed the entire preseason with an injury. The Eagles released him, understanding that no team would claim an injured player.

“Then once I played in a game, I had a couple of teams try to claim me. I had to make a decision — leave Philadelphia or stay,” he said. “I chose to stay and I was rewarded by being elevated to the active roster again. The rest is history. I had a good season. My role increased a little bit from last year because I played a few snaps at receiver but I was mainly punt return. I obsessed over that role. We ended up leading the league in return yards and second in average.”

Now that he has a couple of NFL seasons under his belt, Covey is more secure in his approach.

“My rookie year, I was a little hesitant. You don’t want to step on any toes. My second year, I took a lot more ownership of that role,” he said. “I basically would help the other 10 guys on my unit understand where my mind was at and have them watch a lot of film with me and get on the same page. As a unit, we really performed at a high level this year. We were super dedicated to owning that.”

Covey would love to have more opportunities to get on the field as a receiver.

“I’m hopeful that my role increases next year. I have a lot of veterans on the team that advocate for me to get some playing time on offense,” he said. “They believe in me, which feels good. I’m going to have a couple of new guys that I’ll have to compete with, which is normal. You never know. You own your role and hope it increases. I know Jalen trusts me as a receiver so I’m hopeful that can lead to something bigger next year.”

After signing with the Eagles after being an undrafted free agent, Covey enjoyed a solid rookie season as Philadelphia played in the Super Bowl LLVI.

The Eagles fell to the Kansas City Chiefs but he turned in a memorable, 27-yard punt return in that game.

Covey admits he was “totally spoiled” to play in the Super Bowl as a rookie.

“I said to myself last year, ‘I’ll appreciate the Super Bowl after the fact,’” he said. “I couldn’t do that in the moment. I’d get too nervous.”

Philadelphia special teams coordinator Michael Clay appreciates all that Covey has contributed to the Eagles.

“Britain Covey, what he’s done the last couple years as an undrafted free agent and a second-year guy to lead the league in yards and be up there in average, kudos to him,” he said. “He just keeps getting better and better. His mindset as a returner is something that you rarely see outside of those explosive guys. I’m very happy to have Britain Covey on my punt returners.”

Both Covey and McKee are hoping to continue to make an impact with the Eagles as they continue to support each other, share their mission stories and build their friendship in Philadelphia.