Linebacker, Alabama, 2008–11
Dont’a Hightower
- Number
- No. 30
- Height
- 6′4″
- Hometown
- Lewisburg, TN
- Born
- Mar 12, 1990, in Lewisburg, Tennessee
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Dont’a Hightower played linebacker at Alabama (2008–11). He was a consensus All‑American in 2011. The New England Patriots took Hightower in the first round, No. 25 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Honors
Team titles: National champions, 2009 and 2011; SEC champions, 2009
Season by season, from Wikipedia
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Int | Yds | PD | FF | FR | ||
| 2008 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 64 | 26 | 38 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2009 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 70 | 30 | 40 | 3.5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 85 | 40 | 45 | 11 | 1 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 45 | 43 | 235 | 101 | 134 | 21 | 2 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 2 | |
From the college statistics table in Hightower’s Wikipedia article (Dont’a Hightower, CC BY-SA), season by season as the article gives them, bowls included where it counts them. Our own records come from box scores, which start in 2004 (tackles in 2016, kickoff returns in 2009).
Defense before 2016
| Season | G | Solo | Ast | Tkl | TFL | Sacks | Int | PBU | FF | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008N | 14 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 2.5 | 0 | – | – | 1 | – |
| 2009 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | 13 | 30 | 39 | 69 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 2011 | 13 | 41 | 44 | 85 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| On file | 102 | 132 | 234 | 21 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | |
Our box scores carry tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from 2016 only, so these come from other sources, marked by season: unmarked, cfbstats.com (Open Data Commons Attribution License), its game lines summed (G: the games he has a line in); N, NCAA statistics, via octonion/football, the season’s official lines (G: games played). A dash: the source has no number for it.
On the roster
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2011 Alabama 1 game with an interception on file, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Int |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22 | vs. Tennessee | W 37–6 | 1 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file. Before 2016 our source’s box scores record only interceptions for defenders (no tackles, tackles for loss or sacks), so only those games are listed. His tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from other sources are under “Defense before 2016” below.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2012 | Combine or pro day 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′2¼″ | |
| Weight | 265 lb | |
| Arm length | 32⅝″ | |
| Hand size | 9¾″ | |
| Wingspan | 78½″W | |
| 40-yard dash | 4.68 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.66 s | |
| Vertical jump | 32″ | |
| Broad jump | 9′9″ | |
| 3-cone drill | 7.55 s | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.64 s |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
9 seasons, 116 games with a stat; latest team: New England Patriots.
Pro Bowls: 2 (2016, 2019) · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 2016
All-Pro teams: AP second team 2016.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | New England Patriots | 14 | 59 | 4 | 0 |
| 2013 | New England Patriots | 15 | 95 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | New England Patriots | 12 | 86 | 6 | 0 |
| 2015 | New England Patriots | 12 | 43 | 3.5 | 0 |
| 2016 | New England Patriots | 13 | 64 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2017 | New England Patriots | 5 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | New England Patriots | 15 | 47 | 1 | 1 |
| 2019 | New England Patriots | 15 | 60 | 5.5 | 0 |
| 2021 | New England Patriots | 15 | 56 | 1.5 | 0 |
| NFL career | 116 | 524 | 27 | 1 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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