NEW ORLEANS -- After toiling away for more than three years, wondering if he'd ever get another shot to play in a NFL game, the breakthrough finally came last season for running back Tim Hightower with the New Orleans Saints.
The most rewarding part came afterward.
“I think the best part about this process has been other guys reaching out to me and asking things like, ‘Hey, I had this diagnosis and how did you handle XYZ?’ To me that’s the biggest compliment,” said Hightower, who hadn’t played since suffering a torn ACL with the Washington Redskins in 2011, followed by an infection that initially went undiagnosed.
Hightower, who turned 30 last month, said he even heard from players he had never met before.
“From seeing guys at the airport to guys hitting me up on social media, the respect after last season, man, it was really humbling. It was awesome,” Hightower said. “It really makes you feel good that hey, man, I didn’t give up and I had some level of success in this thing, and your colleagues respect you enough to reach out. That means the world to me.
“So it just kind of gives me that motivation to make sure I’m doing what I need to do so I can be that resource for guys.”
Hightower, who began his career with the Arizona Cardinals before being traded to Washington in 2011, went to training camp with the Redskins in 2012. But he missed the cut and didn’t catch on with another team until the Saints signed him to a futures deal in January 2015.
Even in New Orleans, Tim Hightower got released in September before the Saints called him back as a midseason injury replacement.
Then he capped his remarkable comeback with an outstanding performance over the final four weeks as a fill-in for injured starter Mark Ingram. In those four games, Hightower racked up 327 rushing yards, 129 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Hightower said it feels “awesome” to have a home and some kind of stability now with the Saints after signing a one-year deal worth $840,000, plus $290,000 more in incentives -- especially since he has a family that is about to grow with another new addition.
But he insisted he won’t change his approach.
“Last year and the past three years, if they’ve taught me anything, it’s to never ever get complacent,” Hightower said. “Not to be cliché, but this team has so much to prove and I feel like I still have a lot to prove. I think for the rest of my life I’ll always kind of have a chip on my shoulder and have a focus that if I’m not getting better, somebody else is.”
Hightower (6-foot, 220 pounds) said he was healthy last offseason, but feels significantly better now that he’s shaken the rust off.
“To be completely honest, I feel 10 times better at this point this year than I did even last year,” Hightower said. “Last year was really the first offseason I had to be healthy, to go through a whole offseason to kind of learn, figure out my body, this organization, this system. You’re learning yourself all over again.”
Saints coach Sean Payton said Ingram will remain a featured back, and the rest of the crowded backfield will sort itself out. That group includes Hightower, C.J. Spiller, Travaris Cadet, Marcus Murphy and Daniel Lasco.
But Payton said it was an easy decision to bring back Hightower -- as much for what he meant off the field as he did on it. Hightower’s story and his personality both made him an inspirational leader in New Orleans’ locker room.
“Listen, he’s someone who’s a good pro, he’s a good leader," Payton said. "I know he’s well-respected in the locker room. And he’s got versatility."
The Saints essentially chose Hightower over former backup Khiry Robinson, whom they let leave as a restricted free agent.
Hightower said he believes his locker-room presence “was a huge reason” the Saints brought him back.
“The culture that they’re trying to bring here in this organization, just the leadership and giving this team a spark,” Hightower said of the reasons why he believes the Saints value him. “And finishing off strong last year and hopefully starting off strong this next year.”