Dont'a Hightower Has Officially Retired

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A force, a leader and a champion.

Thank you and congratulations on an incredible career, @zeus30hightower! pic.twitter.com/4wu6d3ljfB

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) March 21, 2023

Another 2010s Patriot legend is calling it a career. Linebacker Dont'a Hightower is hanging up his cleats this time after a storied stint in New England.

The 2012 first-rounder played for the Patriots from 2012-2019; 2021, making two Pro Bowls and winning three Super Bowls during his tenure, but his impact is felt far beyond the accolades.

I loved Dont'a Hightower's play. He was never the superstar he was at Alabama, but the man had a more than solid NFL career, highlighted by some of the biggest plays in Patriots and NFL history. The whole "you can't write the story of X without Y" trope is getting kind of tired, but Dont'a's play truly shaped NFL history. People forget how close the Tom Brady Patriots were to losing three straight Super Bowl appearances after starting 3-0. Who knows how that would've affected the team and league from 2015-forward? Do the Patriots still end up winning another two Super Bowls? How much would Brady's legacy have altered without the Patriots keeping Seattle out of the end zone? It's a team game, but Dont'a Hightower made some of the biggest plays of the dynasty's second leg.

Malcolm Butler's Super Bowl XLIX interception is arguably the play of the decade. While most Patriots fans know what I'm about to type, most people likely forgot about Hightower's tackle the play before. It looked like Marshawn Lynch was about to stroll into the end zone for the potential game-winning touchdown. That was until Dont'a bench pressed Russell Okung and brought down Beast Mode short of the goal line.

It’s a team sport until it isn’t. Players make plays. And Dont’a Hightower made a whole heap of winning plays pic.twitter.com/iWCkGHoSDT

— Honk The Bobo (@ColeyMick) March 21, 2023

Then in Super Bowl LI, Hightower made 1b of the game's two signature plays. His strip sack is what really made people be like, "holy shit, this is a fucking game now," or something along those lines if you've got a better vocabulary. The Patriots do not complete the 28-3 comeback without this sack.

A 25-point comeback is incredibly improbable, but Dont’a Hightower is responsible for a forced fumble that started to make it seem like the Patriots had a chance to pull it off.

Heckuva 10-year career for Hightower as a 3X champion. pic.twitter.com/DZD1PBEWqP

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 21, 2023

The Patriots double dynasty will end up with a handful of Hall of Famers. Brady and Gronk are locks. Logan Mankins and Vince Wilfork will get in eventually. While Hightower isn't a Pro Football Hall of Fame caliber player, he is a Patriots Hall of Fame candidate down the road. Dont'a embodied what it meant to be a Patriot during this era. His stats might've not been eye-popping, but his impact was felt well beyond the box score. Players like Hightower kept the legacy of the 2000s Pats alive. He's a winner and team leader. When you think of big game players for the 2010s Pats, there aren't many names you'd say before his.

​Initially, I thought it was kind of fucked up he wore #54 (even though Brian Waters wore it the year before) since it should've been retired/held out of the rotation for Tedy Bruschi, but the Pats don't really do that and Dont'a ended up being the perfect guy to rock 54 and keep the Bruschi spirit going during the dynasty's second leg.

When the @Patriots needed a big play on the biggest stage, Dont'a Hightower stepped up.

Congrats on a remarkable career, @zeus30hightower. â–¡ pic.twitter.com/47P3W5J4YD

— NFL (@NFL) March 21, 2023

Most don't play the game for the accolades; they play to win and for the love of it. Dont'a Hightower was the perfect Patriot. Would you rather have 5 All-Pros and no rings or three rings and no All-Pros? I know what I'd pick, and there's no hesitation. Dont'a did make 2nd-team All-Pro in 2016, but the point is...most play for rings, and Dont'a was a significant piece of THREE Super Bowl championship teams. AND he was hurt in 2017, which only shows his value when you consider how gross the Pats D played in Super Bowl LII.

Do I wish Dont'a Patriots career could've ended in a better fashion? Sure, but while he was here, he made up one of the most solid linebacking cores in the NFL. He was a big game player who made big-time plays when it mattered most. The game is forever changing and the Dont'a Hightower-type linebacker is sort of going away, but this man was one of the best LBs in the NFL for some time. Congratulations on an outstanding career, Zeus. You are a Patriots legend. I'm sure you'll end up with a red jacket sometime in the next 3-19 years (there's a huge backlog of dudes worthy of induction). 

P.S.

I've never watched it, but Dont'a was even referenced in one of the most popular shows of the 2010s, Orange is the New Black.

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A post shared by Dont'a Hightower (@_boomtower)

Double P.S.

News like this reminds me how fucking long I'm been grinding in the blog game. I started DOL in February 2016 and wrote the Patriots resigning Dont'a SEVEN years ago *puke emoji*.

Triple P.S.

I haven't read it yet, but I'm gonna as soon as I publish this blog...Dont'a announced his retirement in a Player's Tribune article. I can't wait to see what he has to say about his incredible career.