Gabriel Hightower

Gabriel Hightower

No. 33     Seattle Seahawks
Strong Safety
Personal information
Place of birth: Bachelors Hall, VA
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 174 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school: Danville Community College
College: North Carolina
NFL Draft: 2021 / Round: 3 / Pick: 93
Debuted in 2021 for the Seattle Seahawks
Career history
Seattle Seahawks (2021 - present) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles 28 FF 1 FR 1

Gabriel Hightower (born December 11, 1996) is a strong safety currently playing for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFLHC. Prior to that he was the starting free safety for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Recruiting

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Gabriel Hightower SS	Danville, VA	Danville Community College	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	JuCo
	Skill:   Potential:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Hightower's grades were not good enough coming out of high school to attend an FBS school directly, so he went to Danville Community College in southern Virginia. He signed with the North Carolina Tar Heels after his junior college career finished.

College Career

Statistics

NCAA Collegiate Career statistics
North Carolina Tar Heels
Season	Defense
	GP	GS	Tackles	Int	Sacks	FF	FR	TD	Safeties
2019	12	12	32	3	0.0	0	0	1	0
2020	13	13	8	2	0.0	0	0	0	0
NCAA Career Totals	25	25	40	5	0.0	0	0	1	0

Professional Career

Pre-draft

During the 2021 NFLHC Combine, Hightower was one of eight strong safeties invited. His performance was quite underwhelming with only his bench press and 40-yard dash scoring in the upper half among his position group.

Combine Statistics

40 yard dash	Vertical	Broad	Bench Press	Shuttle	3 Cone
4.62	28.5	9-7	13	4.42	7.22

Draft

Hightower was taken in the 3rd round of the 2021 NFLHC Draft by Seattle, who selected him at pick 93 thanks to a trade with the New York Jets. He was the seventh strong safety taken in the draft.

Seattle Seahawks

2021 Season

As a backup to Antonio Oliver, Hightower primarily saw the field on special teams as a rookie, but hamstring tendonitis kept him out for three games.

2022 Season

Once again Hightower was a special teams player.

2023 Season

Hightower was anointed the starter after Antonio Oliver was traded to the Cleveland Browns. In the offseason Hightower signed a 5-year, $12.5 million extension with Seattle.

Career Statistics

Regular season

Year Defense GP GS Tackles TFL INTs PD Sacks FF FR Blocks TDs Safeties 2021 16 0 - - - - - - - - - - 2022 16 0 3 - - - - 1 1 - - - 2023 16 16 23 - - - - - - - - - 2024 - - - - - - - - - Totals 48 16 28 - - - - 1 1 - - -

Contract History Year Team Contract Year Contract Information Notes Years Total Guaranteed Non-Guaranteed 2021 SEA 1st 4 7 1.25 0.5 2022 SEA 2nd 1.0 .75 2023 SEA 3rd 0.5 1.25 2024 SEA 4th 0.25 1.5 2025 SEA 1st 5 12.5 2.5 0.0 2026 SEA 2nd 2.5 0.0 2027 SEA 3rd 2.5 0.0 2028 SEA 4th 1.75 0.75 2029 SEA 5th 1.75 0.75 Career 4 10 14.0 5.5

Injury History
Year	Team	Injury Information		Notes
		Games Missed	Type
2021	SEA	3	Hamstring
Career

Player Rating

Year	Team	Rating	Change
2021	SEA	78	N/A
2022	SEA	79	+1
2023	SEA	81	+2
2024	SEA	83	+2