42 Facts About Dont'a Hightower

Dont'a Hightower previously played in the NFL for nine seasons with the Patriots.

Dont'a Hightower attended Marshall County High School in Lewisburg, where he played for the Marshall County Tigers high school football team.

Dont'a Hightower first drew recognition his sophomore year when the team's starting running back quit the team.

Dont'a Hightower collected 98 tackles, two sacks, and seven forced fumbles as a linebacker and caught 18 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns at tight end.

Dont'a Hightower added 875 yards and 19 touchdowns on offense.

Dont'a Hightower was selected to play in the US Army East West All-Star Game in San Antonio, Texas.

Dont'a Hightower chose Alabama over Auburn, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt.

Dont'a Hightower attended the University of Alabama, where he played for the Crimson Tide football team from 2008 to 2011.

Dont'a Hightower recorded 64 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, while having one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

Dont'a Hightower had at least one tackle in each game and had five or more stops in seven of 14 games, including 10 against Tulane and a career-high 11 at LSU.

Dont'a Hightower was named to numerous Freshman All-American teams.

Dont'a Hightower was diagnosed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and missed the rest of the season with surgery.

Dont'a Hightower led the team with a career-best 81 tackles, including 37 solo stops, as well as three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.

Dont'a Hightower registered eight quarterback hurries, one interception, one blocked field goal and three pass breakups.

Dont'a Hightower was a consensus first-team All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA and Walter Camp as well as Rivals.

Dont'a Hightower was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, the Butkus Award, and the Lott Trophy.

Dont'a Hightower was the third linebacker selected in 2012, behind Boston College's Luke Kuechly and South Carolina's Melvin Ingram.

Dont'a Hightower finished the 2012 season with 60 combined tackles, four sacks, three pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown in 14 games and 13 starts.

Dont'a Hightower finished the 2013 season with 97 combined tackles, three pass deflections, and a sack in 16 games and 14 starts.

Dont'a Hightower missed two consecutive games due to a knee.

Dont'a Hightower missed the following game due to a shoulder injury he sustained against the Packers.

Dont'a Hightower missed the Patriots' Week 17 loss against the Buffalo Bills after aggravating his shoulder injury.

Dont'a Hightower finished the 2014 season with 89 combined tackles, six sacks, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 12 games and 12 starts.

Dont'a Hightower made a key play near the end of the fourth quarter, tackling Marshawn Lynch at the one-yard line to prevent a touchdown that would have given the Seahawks the lead, and likely the title.

Dont'a Hightower went on to miss the next two games due to the injury to his MCL.

Dont'a Hightower was inactive for the Patriots' Week 17 loss at the Miami Dolphins due to a sprained MCL injury he aggravated the previous week.

Dont'a Hightower finished the season with 61 combined tackles, 3.5 sacks, two passes defended, and a fumble recovery in 12 games and 12 starts.

Head coach Bill Belichick officially named Dont'a Hightower the starting middle linebacker to start the regular season, alongside outside linebackers Jamie Collins and Jonathan Freeny.

The New England Patriots announced Dont'a Hightower was selected to be one of four team captains to represent the Patriots for the season.

Dont'a Hightower was voted as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 6 performance against the Bengals.

On December 20,2016, it was announced that Dont'a Hightower was named to the 2017 Pro Bowl, marking the first of his career Dont'a Hightower finished the 2016 season with 65 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, two passes defensed, and a safety in 13 games and 13 starts.

Dont'a Hightower received enough votes from his peers to finish 94th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.

Dont'a Hightower recorded two solo tackles, one sack, and forced a fumble deep in Atlanta territory which was recovered by the Patriots to help make it a one-possession game.

Dont'a Hightower was the only returning starter after the Patriots traded Jamie Collins and Jonathan Freeny departed in free agency.

On November 7,2017, the New England Patriots placed Dont'a Hightower on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Dont'a Hightower finished the 2017 season with 14 combined tackles and two sacks in five games and five starts.

Dont'a Hightower returned as a starter in 2018, alongside Kyle Van Noy and rookie Ja'Whaun Bentley.

Dont'a Hightower finished the 2018 season with one sack, 48 total tackles, one interception, one pass defensed, and one fumble recovery in 15 starts.

Dont'a Hightower recorded 5.5 sacks, 71 total tackles, four passes defensed, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.

In 2021, Dont'a Hightower returned to the Patriots and played in 15 of the 17 regular season games and their Wild Card Round game against Buffalo.

Dont'a Hightower finished with 64 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and one pass defensed on the year.

On February 9,2024, Dont'a Hightower announced he had accepted a position as the inside linebacks coach on the staff of new Patriots head coach and Dont'a Hightower's former teammate, Jerod Mayo.