Tom Brady likely will come to the minds of Patriots fans when they think of Super Bowl heroics. But there’s another player who’s routinely stepped up on the biggest stage for New England.
Dont’a Hightower made game-changing plays in each of the Patriots’ last three championship triumphs. The Malcolm Butler interception never would have happened had Hightower not stopped Marshawn Lynch on the 1-yard line the play prior, and New England’s improbable comeback against the Atlanta Falcons largely was catalyzed by the veteran linebacker’s fourth-quarter strip-sack of Matt Ryan.
As such, Patriots fans surely were all on board in early June when Kyle Van Noy advised the Foxboro faithful to refer to Hightower as “Mr. February.” But as it turns out, Van Noy wasn’t the brain behind the nickname. It actually came from a relatively unlikely source at the Patriots’ Super Bowl ring gala earlier this summer.
“He (Bill Belichick) gave Hightower the nickname Mr. February,” Van Noy told Kristine Leahy in a recent episode of FS1’s “Fair Game.” “That’s a big deal. I think that’s a great nickname for him.”
Go figure.
Should the Patriots reach a fourth consecutive Super Bowl in the upcoming season, you probably can expect “Mr. February” to take his game to the next level once again.
