Tee Higgins Parents: Meet Lady Stewart, Who Supported the WR After Dad Eric Higgins’ Death

Tee Higgins is known as the wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, having been in the NFL for three seasons now. But few are aware of the tumultuous personal life he has experienced growing up. His mother, Lady Stewart, has been the constant pillar in his life, having raised Higgins all by herself while struggling with addiction. After growing up with his father absent for most of the time, the WR finally reunited with him during the Super Bowl LVI.

Lady Stewart’s presence at the Super Bowl was also very significant for Higgins, as he had witnessed his mother get over her addiction and survive a bullet to her head. It was a sweet and much-awaited union for the family. But unfortunately, as fate would have it, Tee’s father, Eric Higgins, passed away in 2022. The tragedy occurred just before the wide receiver’s 23rd birthday, and Higgins described it as “one of the lowest points” of his life. Read on to find out the details about Higgins’s journey as he watched his parents fight through life’s trepidations.

Tee Higgins remembers his mother’s struggle with addiction and getting shot

Camilla, affectionately addressed as Lady Stewart, decided to quit her drug addiction when she turned 20, as revealed by the NFL star’s mother to the New York Post. After spending some time behind bars, she and Tee’s dad decided to get clean. Tee was born in 1999, four years into their relationship, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. However, the couple broke up when Tee was a kid, and the separation made Stewart relapse.

Tee, as a 6-year-old, was watching his mother struggle with her addiction when another nightmare struck the Higgins household. Lady Stewart’s then-boyfriend, who was also her drug dealer, shot her in the right side of the head. Fortunately, Stewart survived but had to get 160 screws in her skull. Years later, Higgins still remembers the incident clearly. He was living with his aunt, Keke, at the time. He recalled that he drove with her to his mother’s house and discovered the tragedy.

“I remember it like yesterday,” Tee said in a conversation with the NY Post. “Got in the car and drove to mom’s house; there’s caution tape everywhere: ‘I want to see my mom.’ Helicopter taking off with her. ‘Where’s my mom? Where’s my mom?’ ” Upon reaching the hospital, the young Tee desperately tried to meet his mother, but in vain. “And I just started busting out crying.”

Even after recovering from this horrible incident, Stewart couldn’t fend off the addiction. After spending some time at a detention facility, Stewart decided she needed to end this routine and get clean. And so she did, and her son is proud of it.

“She didn’t have to come clean,” he said during the conversation. “She could have stayed on the wrong path. But she chose God, and God led her to the right path.”

The mother and son shared an important milestone when Higgins played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the 56th Super Bowl. And the joy was doubled when a missing family member joined the reunion.

Higgins’ magical Super Bowl reunion with his father

Having been away from his mother, Higgins didn’t get to spend much time with his father, Eric Higgins. Eric was in prison and missed out on most of his son’s life. But he finally got to see his son play live in front of a crowd of thousands during Super Bowl LVI.

As he expressed in an interview, Tee was overjoyed with things finally falling back into place in his life. “I grew up with obviously my father was in my life, but now he was in prison for the most part, and he was finally able to get out, finally got to come to see me play football.”

Read More: “This Is My First Home”: Tee Higgins Opens Up on ‘Emotional’ Bengals Departure as NFL Combine Awaits for 24-TD WR

Unfortunately, before Tee’s 23rd birthday, Eric Higgins passed away. On an episode of ‘Mobil 1: Behind the Drive with Tee Higgins’, the WR expressed the tough period of grief he suffered after the tragedy. “It was] one of the lowest points of my life because I was just so happy to finally have him back….and it’s hard to stay strong when he passed away.”

The WR also shared a post honoring his father’s death on Instagram.

Despite the horrific experiences, Higgins moves on with determination and hopefulness into the future. He considers his mother to be his biggest support throughout his life. He fulfilled his dream of playing in the Super Bowl in front of his biggest strength, Lady Stewart.

Expressing his joy, Higgins had said, “This is something we dreamed of. Just having her here, especially after everything that she’s been through, everything I went through with her.” Hopefully, there will be more championships to come for the mother-son duo to cherish and share.

Watch this Story: Coach Jim Harbaugh Sets The Record Straight On Michigan’s Sign-Stealing Incident