Former Redskins running back Tim Hightower can now add accomplished author to his growing post-playing career resume.
Hightower, now 36, is promoting his new autobiography, A Dream Worth Fighting For: Never Let Obstacles Stop You from Being Your Best Self, which covers his incomparable journey back to the NFL that's meant to inspire others to beat their own odds.
At age 25, Hightower was in the midst of his first season playing for his hometown Washington Redskins in 2011 when he suffered a torn ACL that would keep him out of professional football for nearly four years. He would scratch and claw his way back to the NFL, miraculously earning a roster spot with the Saints in 2015 after missing three entire seasons.
"I was fortunate enough to get traded back here, play here, and so I was excited and having a good year, starting off strong," Hightower told 106.7 The Fan's 'BMitch & Finlay.'
"And the next thing you know, in a matter of three to four seconds, everything changed quickly," he said. "You go from being a starting running back in a contract year to being told you're probably not gonna play football again at a high level, four or five surgeries later."
"I fought back. And I was fortunate to have a good support system around me," he said. "And as I got back, it was one of those things, the more and more you talk to people, you realize how your story's not very unique. You think it's unique. But there are people outside of the football field who are going through real-life stuff. We see that in the pandemic.
"So the perspective came: You have a responsibility to share those stories, those ups and downs. When I was in those hospitals, I was in those dark spaces, I read and watched... I read other stories. I watched YouTube. I looked for inspiration anywhere I could, and so I feel like I had a responsibility to share that story and that journey with whomever chose to read it."
Hightower was hired as Washington's new Director of Alumni Relations in Dec. 2020 and after a year and a half in the role, he feels like he's starting to make some serious headway.
"At first it was all over the place," he said. "There was not anyone in this position, so some guys, they didn't feel connected. They felt disconnected. And I think that's the nature of this business and in this sport. I've talked to guys who I used to play with and you go from being in the locker room, you're talking every single day, eating, sleeping and breathing with these guys and going to battle on Sundays to guys retire and they've got family lives, their business, all these different things."
"Guys get disconnected from each other," he said. "They don't live in the city where they played. So it's kind of the nature of the business. So a lot of guys and for a lot of reasons, we've had some iconic guys who've had some big moments for this organization and didn't feel connected. And so they were pretty reluctant when I reached out initially, but it's like with anything. It takes time, it takes consistency, and over time you're seeing guys respond and reach out and want to be involved."
