Dont'a Hightower Dropped A Pretty Random Patriots Name On Monday
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Over the course of the past, say, 20 years, the leadership group of Patriots players is pretty well-known. Names like Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Ty Law, Troy Brown, Larry Izzo, Rodney Harrison, Vince Wilfork, Kevin Faulk, Mike Vrabel, Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, and of course, Tom Brady, have always been repeated when discussing the strong locker room leaders during the Bill Belichick era.
Now, 28-year-old linebacker Dont'a Hightower finds himself as one of the elder leaders in the Patriots' locker room. And on Monday, when discussing the type of advice he's dispensing to the team's current crop of rookie linebackers, Hightower mentioned a couple of well-known names of former Patriots ... and one that you might not expect.
"That's one thing that we're good on this -- not just this defense but this team -- is wanting to help one another, whether it's young or old. We're all able to learn from each other, from different techniques, to different experiences and examples. I just kind of gave [Christian Sam] my experience and how it was when I came in and the older guys I had with [Niko] Koutouvides, [Brandon] Spikes and [Jerod] Mayo, and just how that transition from OTAs to training camp to preseason -- how all that stuff kind of affects you."
Mayo was, of course, an established leader by the time Hightower was drafted by the Patriots in 2012. Spikes, too, was a well-liked heavy-hitter for Belichick's defenses at the time. But Koutouvides is a name that not many folks were thinking of in August 2018.
For those who might not remember, Koutouvides -- a linebacker -- spent a season-and-a-half in Foxboro, mostly as a special teams contributor. He recorded 10 solo tackles (and 18 total tackles) in 22 games for New England, plus another two total tackles in five more playoff games. His on-field impact was clearly not historic. But the lessons that the veteran linebacker with eight NFL seasons under his belt was able to impart on a young Hightower -- a first-round draft pick -- is clearly still felt to this day.
And Hightower's mentioning of Koutouvides' name on Monday is the best illustration of exactly the point that Hightower was trying to make.
Hightower also reluctantly accepted the fact that he's now one of the older, wiser minds in Foxboro.
"Anything I can do for those young boys, and I guess I'm the old head," he said. "[I turned into the old guy] a lot quicker, man. They're trying to get me a rocking chair in there, man. I'm not that old, though."