We all know Tom Brady is practically the uncontested GOAT. He set literally dozens of NFL records (more than 50) and is a living icon. What other quarterbacks played till the age of 44, and kept winning despite it? But of course, you need teammates to back you up for it, and who’d know that better than his own teammates?

Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman spoke their piece on the DudesOnDudes Podcast, with a focus on Dont’a Hightower. The defense doesn’t really get their due when you’re talking about the Patriots’ phenomenal run. The Gronk himself gets a lot more of the credit as a tight end than Hightower does as a linebacker. Gronkowski and Edelman reflected on how they were terrified going up against Hightower, nicknamed “Zeus,” and deservingly so.

Not only was Hightower a skyscraper and a boulder all at once (6’3″ and 260lb), he could move like greased lightning. He was instrumental in the Patriots’ success on several occasions, but the one Gronkowski and Edelman call attention to is an iconic one. The Super Bowl game for the 2014 season saw the Patriots take on the Seahawks, who’d won in 2013. Hightower’s work at the Patriots’ 1-yard line kept Marshawn Lynch from scoring a touchdown that could have turned the game completely around.

Instead, it was a glorious Patriots victory that year. Imagine him bearing down on you, you’d turn around and run. According to Rob Gronkowski, that’s exactly what he used to do if he had to go up against Hightower in practice. And can you blame him? Teammates would hesitate to make fun of him, particularly his name, Dont’a (pronounced Dante). That didn’t stop them from trying a few times, though.

What did Tom Brady have to say after Hightower retired?

Hightower and Tom Brady have an awful lot of history together. They shared in 3 New England Patriots Super Bowl wins, you can’t forget experiences like that. With Hightower retiring just a year after Tom Brady himself, he had to acknowledge it, one legend to another. “Clutch. A great teammate, captain, and champion. Congratulations on an amazing career,” he said in an Instagram story after the announcement.

And it’s clear Hightower won’t be settling down too quickly after his retirement. At a spry 34, Hightower has moved on to coaching, working under Mayo as the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach. It’s like Gronk said, he wasn’t just a massive tower of muscle on the field, he was a clever, thinking, cog of the defense. Always active, always adapting, and if he can pass that on to the players he coaches, he’ll train up a very healthy defense. That would be quite the legacy.