Tim Hightower

Timothy "Tim" Michael Hightower (born May 23, 1986) is an American football running back of the National Football League (NFL), who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Richmond.

College career
As a true freshman at the University of Richmond in 2004, Hightower played in all 11 games for the Spiders and carried the ball 58 times for 161 yards. He also made 19 receptions for 158 yards. In his sophomore year, Hightower played in 13 games and started nine, rushing 142 times for 777 yards and nine touchdowns and catching 21 passes for 163 yards. He finished third on the team in scoring with 54 total points on nine touchdowns.

Starting all 11 games as a junior, Hightower posted career-highs in carries (177), rushing yards (850), receptions (34), receiving yards (269) and touchdown catches (2). He scored seven touchdowns and was a Third-team All-Atlantic 10 selection. In his senior season, Hightower set school season-records with 1,924 yards and 20 touchdowns, carrying the ball 327 times (5.9 avg). His average of 137.43 yards per game rushing led the league and ranked sixth in the nation, earning him an All-Colonial Athletic Association first-team selection.

2008 NFL Draft
Hightower was not invited to the 2008 NFL combine, but performed well at Richmond's "pro day". He was considered one of the "small-school sleepers" in the 2008 NFL Draft, but lacked the speed of elite running back prospects. Regarded as "more of a ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ runner", Hightower was projected as a solid middle-round pick. He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Cardinals with the 149th overall pick.

Arizona Cardinals
Hightower rushed for a total amount of 399 yards in 2008. Hightower would then become the only Cardinal rookie running back ever to have scored a touchdown in each of his first two games with the franchise. Eventually, he would go on to score 10 regular season touchdowns (13 including the playoffs), setting a Cardinals rookie record. He would score the winning touchdown for the Arizona Cardinals in their last drive of the 2008 NFC Championship Game to propel the Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII (the Arizona Cardinals' first).

In the 2009 regular season, despite exactly the same number of carries (143) he was able to improve his previous 399 yards to 598 yards, an improvement which brought his yards per carry up from 2.8 in 2008 to 4.2.

Hightower would begin the season well by getting a 80-yard rushing touchdown in a game against the Atlanta Falcons. Hightower would get injured during a game against the Seattle Seahawks and would not be able to play in the following game.

In the 2010 regular season, he carried the football 153 times for a total of 736 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and scored 5 touchdowns.

Washington Redskins
Hightower was traded on July 31, 2011 to the Washington Redskins in exchange for defensive end Vonnie Holliday and a sixth round draft pick in 2012. After starting in the first five of the Redskins' games, he rushed for 321 yards on 84 carries with two total touchdowns, Hightower was placed on injured reserve due to a torn ACL.

On May 13, 2012, Hightower re-signed with Redskins on a one-year contract. He was expected to compete for the starting spot in the 2012 season against Roy Helu and Evan Royster, however, he was cut on August 31 for final roster cuts before the start of the season due to an emerging Alfred Morris.