Hightower moving past unlikely comeback story

Saints RB grateful for second chance after long layoff

Clustered on a shelf in Tim Hightower's locker at the New Orleans Saints training center this week were three footballs - symbols of how far he's come since a 2011 knee injury that sidelined him for more than three seasons.

Two of the footballs were carried into the end zone by the 30-year-old Hightower last Sunday in Arizona, the place where his NFL career began as a fifth-round draft choice out of Richmond in 2008.