Introducing Arthur J. Hightower II, our Senior Director of Player Engagement!
Tell us a little bit about what you do at the Chargers.
I am currently the Senior Director of Player Engagement for the Chargers and have worked in Player Engagement since April 2005.
Player Engagement stands on four pillars of building up our players in the areas of Continuing Education, Financial Education, Professional Development, and Personal Development including Mental Health.
How did you get started?
I was a former college football player at Florida A&M University that understood the balance of academics and athletics while in school. I wanted to utilize my passion for sports to help other student-athletes balance and excel academically and athletically. I chose the route to become an Academic Counselor after a year-long internship at the NCAA.
The internship at the NCAA was one of the best working experiences that I have had professionally because of the wide network of people that I was able to build relationships with that are currently some of the biggest powerbrokers in college and professional athletics.
My professional trek took me from a football graduate assistant at the University of Minnesota, to my alma mater as a sports information intern, to the NCAA as an intern, to the University of Maine as an Academic Counselor, to the University of Houston as an Academic Counselor/Life Skills Coordinator, back to the NCAA, and then to my current situation with the Chargers organization.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my position working with the Chargers is the people I have been privileged to work with and the working and personal relationships that have been built since 2005 with the people in our local surrounding communities, organization members, and the players.
Any advice for those trying to get a job in sports?
The biggest advice is to find your niche and be great at it! There are so many roles in sports that you can become the best to ever do it. All the roles in sports don't come with the limelight and attention that a lot of young professionals sometimes seem to seek. Just be the best you at what it is you chose to do!
Dead or alive, which important figures in Black History would you want to have dinner with?
There are so many important figures in Black History that I would enjoy more than just dinner with. I don't think one person, or one meal, would be enough!
There's President Obama, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, Nelson Mandela, Mary McLeod Bethune, Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, and Booker T. Washington.
Tell us about a person who has inspired you and/or impacted your career today.
It truly starts with my parents that provided and afforded me the opportunity to follow my passion in sports from a young age and sacrificed a lot to make it happen. They always had a saying to find your passion and you will never work a day in your life!
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