Dont'a Hightower Earns Gillette Stadium Locker Reserved For Team Leaders
BOSTON (CBS) -- If you're wondering whom the Patriots will prioritize with their impending free agents, Bill Belichick may have subtly given his answer. Linebacker Dont'a Hightower now occupies what the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe calls "Belichick's most valued real estate" in the locker room at Gillette Stadium.
Hightower, whom Howe said in his Wednesday column that Hightower is expected to be elected a team captain this season, now holds a locker mere feet away from a set of doors that leads directly to the practice field, film room, and players' parking lot. This means that everyone on the Patriots roster will spend a lot of time walking past Hightower, who has emerged as "one of the Pats' greatest leaders" in recent years.
The fifth-year linebacker out of Alabama now inhabits a space previously owned by former Patriots linebacker and defensive captain Jerod Mayo, and 2015 Patriots Hall-of-Famer Willie McGinest before him. Hightower cited the 2013 season, when he was unexpectedly thrust into Mayo's role as defensive signal-caller after Mayo went down with a pectoral injury, as one of his biggest learning experiences in becoming a leader on the team.
"I learned my lesson a couple years ago when Mayo went down, trying not to be myself and be somebody else," said Hightower. "As far as leadership goes, I lead different than Willie did, and I'll lead different than Mayo did. I'll approach things the way I feel they should be approached."
Mayo commented on the importance of being a locker room leader, holding other players accountable, and maintaining a tricky balance between being comfortable and uncomfortable.
"The thing that makes New England so special is everyone is always uncomfortable," said Mayo. "You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable, if that makes sense. Until you're comfortable being uncomfortable, you can't play in New England. Being in that locker, everyone has to walk past that area to get to the squad meeting room, so you talk to a lot of guys."
Hightower is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2016 season, when he will earn $7,751,000. If his role - and real estate - in the locker room is any indication, he will be getting himself a lucrative long-term extension in short order.
