The Rose Bowl will be Britain Covey’s last football game as a Ute

Before the University of Utah football program conducted senior day festivities on Nov. 26, Britain Covey said he planned to walk, but had not made up his mind on his future.

On Friday afternoon, Covey’s future plans came to light.

In a Tweet from his personal handle, Covey, a redshirt junior wide receiver and among the program’s most-beloved figures in recent memory, said he will enter the 2022 NFL draft, but will play in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State on Jan. 1.

Covey is the second underclassman in as many days to declare for the draft, following running back T.J. Pledger’s announcement on Thursday.

“I will go out and walk as a senior just in case, but that’s a decision my family and I will make before the bowl game, but after the Pac-12 championship game,” Covey said in the days leading up to Nov. 26. “I just want to focus on the next couple of weeks, but I will walk.”

Covey’s college career dates back to 2015, his debut against the University of Michigan at Rice-Eccles Stadium coinciding with Jim Harbaugh’s first game as the head coach at his alma mater. Since then, Covey has been an integral part of not only Utah’s offense, but as a return specialist.

With one more game to play, Covey is already Utah’s all-time leader in career punt-return yards (1,092). This season, he leads the Pac-12 and is No. 3 nationally at 14.7 yards per punt return. The Provo native’s 427 total punt-return yards in 2021 rank him No. 1 nationally.

For his 46-game career, Covey has 181 catches for 1,977 yards and 10 touchdowns, while amassing 2,267 yards on 228 total touches.

Covey will finish his career at Utah with five All-Pac-12 selections, including four as a return specialist. Of those four, Covey was the All-Pac-12 first-team return specialist in 2018, 2020, and 2021.

Earlier Friday, Covey, along with linebacker Devin Lloyd, received first-team All-American recognition from the Football Writers Association of America.

Covey, Lloyd, and Pledger are among the non-seniors who have already said they will not be returning to Utah, but more are expected, including All-Pac-12 offensive lineman Nick Ford.