All hail Tim Hightower

Most storylines have been exhausted by this point in the two-week buildup to the Super Bowl, but on this campus, there's one that never gets old: Tim Hightower.

Last year, he was the star player on the University of Richmond football team that made it to the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. This year, he's playing for the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

The Arizona Cardinals have been the underdog in every playoff game they have played this season, and this Sunday will be no different. Hightower's career as a running back exemplifies the against-all-odds success the Cardinals have had this season.

When he arrived at Richmond in 2004, Richmond had just hired coach Dave Clawson to replace Jim Reid, who had resigned following a 2-9 season. Hightower didn't redshirt like many of his fellow freshmen, but played in all 11 games, totaling 161 yards on 58 carries and 158 yards on 19 receptions.

But as a team, Richmond was 3-8 and contemplating a move to the Patriot League after another losing season. Instead, the Spiders would join the Colonial Athletic Association, which decided in May of 2005 to sponsor football beginning in 2007.

Richmond's last two seasons in the Atlantic 10 Conference were significant improvements. In 2005, the Spiders were 8-4 during the regular season, won the A-10 regular-season title and won a first-round FCS playoff game against Hampton University before losing to Furman University during the quarterfinals.

Hightower once again played in all the team's games, and started in nine of them. His numbers improved significantly: 142 carries for 777 yards, nine touchdowns and 21 catches for 168 yards.

The loss of quarterback Stacy Tutt, whose 3,047 yards of total offense during the 2005 season are the best during a single season in Richmond history, hurt the team in 2006. Eric Ward replaced Tutt as quarterback and was the A-10 Rookie of the Year, but the team's 6-5 record wasn't good enough for a return trip to the playoffs.

Still, Hightower continued to improve, starting in all 11 games to amass 117 carries, 850 yards and five touchdowns. He also had 34 receptions, which led to 269 yards and two touchdowns.

In April 2007, Clawson named Hightower and defensive back Stephen Howell the captains for their senior seasons. It was this year, the team's first year in the CAA, that Hightower's contributions would matter the most.

I remember sitting at a press conference in August 2007 listening to Dave Clawson talk about the importance of leadership. He said the team relied on Tutt in 2005, lacked that kind of leader in 2006 and would need someone to step up for the 2007 season.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize that person was Hightower. He scored 13 touchdowns during the first four games of the season.

One of those games was the home opener against the University of New Hampshire during Family Weekend. I insisted that my family come with me, but my mom and sisters warned me that they might want to leave early because they "don't care about football."

But after seeing Hightower, their attitudes reversed. We stayed for the whole game to witness every single one of his 22 carries that produced 168 yards and three touchdowns, as well as the seven catches that led to 41 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season.

Hightower continued to excel the rest of the season: 327 carries for 1,924 yards and 20 touchdowns, and 32 receptions for 228 yards and three touchdowns. The Spiders were CAA champions and went to the semifinals for the first time in program history, though they lost to eventual champion Appalachian State University.

After the season was over, Hightower received an invitation to play in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game, but not to the NFL Scouting Combine, where NFL coaches, general managers and scouts evaluate prospective NFL players.

Despite Hightower's absence at the combine, the Arizona Cardinals selected him during the fifth round of the draft, making him and fellow senior Arman Shields the first Spiders drafted since the Denver Broncos selected Muneer Moore in 2000.

The lack of NFL players from Richmond and other FCS schools led to skepticism that Hightower could make an impact with the Cardinals. But Hightower has exceeded everyone's expectations again.

During the preseason, he scored three touchdowns and has contributed to the Cardinals' offense ever since. He scored 10 regular-season touchdowns, all rushing, from his 143 carries and 399 yards.

His first start was against the St. Louis Rams on Nov. 2, and he responded with a career-high 109 rushing yards. Edgerrin James regained the starting job for the last regular season game against the Seattle Seahawks and has kept it throughout the postseason, but Hightower has still done well in a backup role.

Through the Cardinals' three playoff games, Hightower's 34 carries have led to 132 yards and a touchdown, and his only two receptions have been for touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left during the NFC Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cardinals are now in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. They enter the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as underdogs, as they have been for every postseason game.

I remember watching analysts make their predictions during a Fox pre-game show the day of the divisional playoff game between the Cardinals and Carolina Panthers. Everyone was picking the Panthers, but the Cardinals proved the "experts" wrong, just as they did against the Atlanta Falcons during the Wild Card round and against the Eagles during the conference championship.

Hightower is helping the Cardinals earn the country's respect, but he has done even more than that for Richmond. He frequently returns to campus, including trips to the first-round football playoff game against Eastern Kentucky University on Nov. 29 and the men's basketball game against Coppin State University on Nov. 30.

Football coach Mike London was hired last January and never coached Hightower in a game, but has often called Hightower the model of Richmond football. London has noted increased attention from high school recruits and NFL scouts, which he attributes to Hightower's NFL success in addition to the team's FCS championship this season.

When I left Chattanooga, Tenn., after that championship game, my excitement was hindered by the realization that the Richmond football season was over. But as Richmond students' hometown teams have been eliminated from the playoffs, I've seen more and more No. 34 Cardinals jerseys around campus, and I've realized that the Richmond season isn't over until Hightower's is.

Hightower could have been on this year's FCS championship team if he had had a redshirt season. But maybe, if he and the Cardinals can prove the world wrong again, the player who wasn't even invited to the combine last year will be one of this year's Super Bowl champions.

Contact sports editor Barrett Neale at barrett.neale@richmond.edu