Patriots' Hightower chanted '28-3' to motivate fiancee during labor
Dont'a Hightower used the New England Patriots' Super Bowl LI comeback to help motivate his fiancee Morgan Hart during the birth of their first child.
As Hart was in the 17th hour of her labor with their son, Grayson, Hightower chanted, "28-3, 28-3" and "never give up," according to Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe.
The Patriots rallied back from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl LI to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime, completing one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. Hightower played an important role in the win, as his strip-sack of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan helped shift the momentum to the Patriots.
"It was surreal," Hart said of the delivery. "It was a long night and a long day, and he kept reminding me, '28-3, 28-3,' meaning you can be behind and come back. Never, never give up.
"Dont'a is a motivator and always has been. '28-3' is about what you can do as a team and, in this case, it was the two of us as a team. He kind of renewed my spirit that he was in this with me, and if I wavered at all, he was here to pick me back up. He got me through it, for sure."
Hightower is one of several Patriots players who chose to opt out of the 2020 season, doing so to avoid putting his family's health at risk.
"It's family first," he said. "I want to take all the opportunity that I can to be a great father."