Alex Highsmith Trademarks

Alex Highsmith was born on August 7, 1997, in Wilmington, North Carolina to Sam and Pam Highsmith. He has one sister, Lauryn. He was raised in the Wilmington area, where his family still resides today. He was known as a good student throughout school, was on the Honor Roll, and was a member of the National Honor Society during his time at Eugene Ashley High School. He played football, basketball, and baseball. He was named All-Area in baseball. In football, he played both middle linebacker and fullback. During his junior year, he had 68 tackles and two forced fumbles. He was named an honorable mention all-conference player and Most Improved Player. For his senior year, he was named a team captain. He earned first-team All-Mideastern Conference honors, second-team All-Area honors, and team MVP.

Highsmith was not widely recruited, but he did receive some interest from The Furman Paladins football program and the Davidson Wildcats football program, however, he instead chose to walk on at the University of North Carolina.

He redshirted his freshman season at UNC, where he played in 12 games, one of which he started in. That year, he had a sack and 17 tackles, 11 of which were solo. Highsmith recorded at least one tackle in each of the last eleven games of the season, with a standout performance against The University of Texas at San Antonio. In that game, he had a season-high five solo tackles, one for a loss and a sack.

The following season, Highsmith did not start any games for the Charlotte 49ers. He did, however, play in 11 games. The impact he made during games was being noticed and it increased dramatically in the middle of that season. He had two sacks and seven quarterback hits in addition to 33 tackles, 23 of which were solo and five were for a loss for that season.

Highsmith earned a scholarship to UNC in the summer of 2017.

Highsmith’s breakout season was in 2018 and he put up the best numbers of his college career that year. He started and played in 12 games for the team and he had three sacks, two forced fumbles, and eight quarterback hits. In addition, Highsmith had 60 tackles, 22 of them were solo, and 18 were for a loss, which set a new school record. He was given weekly honors several times throughout the season, including Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week, Madness C-USA Player of the Week, and Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week. He was also named 2018 first-team All-Conference USA, first-team All-C-USA by Pro Football Focus, and Second Team by Phil Steele.

In 2019, his final year at UNC, Highsmith was added to the Chuck Bednarik Award and Burlsworth Trophy watch lists. He recorded a career-high 75 tackles, 32 of which were solo. He had a total of 14 sacks, which made him fourth in the nation, and four and a half of those came in a game against Old Dominion University and set a new school record. He also broke UNC’s record for total sacks in a season and total sacks in a career, as well as most tackles for a loss in a season and most tackles for a loss in a single game. He played in the Bahamas Bowl, where he had seven tackles against Buffalo. Throughout the season, Highsmith was named Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week and C-USA Defensive Team of the Week, five times. He was also a Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalist.

Highsmith was invited to and participated in the 2020 NFL Combine. He had a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and scored a 26 on the Wunderlich test. That year he was the 102nd player drafted, after being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round. In his rookie season for the Steelers, he played in 16 games, five of which he started in. He had his first professional interception in week eight against the Baltimore Ravens and his first career sack was on Garrett Gilbert, the Dallas Cowboys’ third-string quarterback. His first professional start was in week 13 against the Washington Football Team. He had five tackles in that game. Highsmith would start for the rest of the season. During his rookie year, he had one interception, one pass defended, two sacks, and five quarterback hits. He had 39 tackles, 24 were solo and four were for a loss.

Highsmith is engaged to Alyssa Ungrady, who is a nursing student. They met while they were attending UNC and were both on the leadership team for The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). He is a devout Christian and has founded a non-profit organization called the Alex Highsmith Family Foundation, which is committed to helping to inspire today’s youth. The foundation is responsible for administering his football camp, The Alex Highsmith Annual Football Camp, held at Ashley High School in Wilmington, NC.

In 2021, Alex Highsmith filed a trademark application for a logo, which is comprised of the words “TEAM HIGHSMITH” styled in the form of a Christian cross, for use on athletic apparel like athletic uniforms, hats and caps, shirts, pants, jackets, and footwear. This design is often found on items related to Highsmith’s foundation and football camp.