ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Central Washington University has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame class to be inducted on May 6^th in the SURC Ballroom. To purchase tickets for the Gala click HERE

Among those being inducted is former Wildcat football player Adam Bighill. 
 
Bighill was a linebacker for the Wildcat football team for the 2007 through 2010 seasons and is a 2011 graduate of Central Washington University. During his tenure with the Central Washington football team Bighill garnered GNAC co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, First Team All-GNAC in 2010, AFCA First Team All-American in 2010, D2Football.com Second Team All-American in 2010, Don Hansen Football Gazette Third Team All-Region in 2010, Daktronics Second-Team All-Region in 2010, Second Team All-GNAC in 2008 and 2009, CoSIDA Academic All-Region in 2009 and 2010, and selected to participate in the Cactus Bowl collegiate All-Star Game in 2010. 
 
Bighill ended his Wildcat career recording 314 tackles (163 solo, 151 assisted), 46 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, and seven interceptions. Bighill is currently second all-time in Wildcat history for tackles for loss, fourth in total tackles, and fourth in assisted tackles for an individual career. Bighill is currently representing Wildcat nation in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers which he's been a member of since 2018. Bighill has also played for the BC Lions (2011-2016) and spent the 2017 season as a member of the National Football Leagues (NFL) New Orleans Saints. 
 
In his professional career he has been a Grey Cup Champion in 2011, 2019, and 2021, the CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2015, 2018 and 2021, and a CFL All-Star in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018. Within the CFL Bighill has started 150 games out of the 164 that he's played. Bighill has accumulated 797 tackles with a season high of 121 coming in 2015, he's also accumulated 45 sacks with nine being his career high coming in both 2012 and 2013, 15 interceptions, three defensive touchdowns, and 14 forced fumbles. 
 
Below is a Q&A with Adam about his time, thoughts, and memories with CWU Athletics and the community. 
 
Q: What was your reaction to being informed you were being inducted to the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame?
 
Adam Bighill: It was surreal, because you never really set those kinds of goals when you start your career in college. My goal was to play professional football and focus on working my hardest every single day to make that happen. I was just really blown away because it just speaks to the body of work I've done at Central and the body of work I've done at the professional level, which helped me reflect on some of the amazing things that I've done. For me, so much is about moving forward and not reflecting on some of the things I've done so that way I can continue to improve. I really do feel like I can always be better, so it was a good moment to kind of be able to go back and reflect. 
 
Q: You still hold multiple records here at CWU just a little over a decade later, how cool is it that your work is still so prominent in the history of CWU football?
 
Adam: Central Washington's had plenty of great football players come through the halls and it's just such an honor to be one of them. I played with a handful of greats in Mike Reilly and Jared Bronson and just so many of those guys are just great players, great teammates, and great people, and so for me it's just an honor to have been there and have the opportunity to play at Central and play with such great players and to be able to do what I did. 
 
Q: How did you end up at Central?
 
Adam: While I was getting recruited from Beau Baldwin, he was at Eastern Washington at the time, but he took the head coaching job at Central. He basically ended up bringing me with him to Central instead of EWU. I spent every high school camp coming and playing at Central, so I was very familiar with Ellensburg and the campus. I enjoyed it during the camps, so it was those kinds of things that ended up really drew me to come play at Central.
 
Q: Did you ever imagine when you started at Central that you would wind up becoming a member of the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame?
 
Adam: I never thought about being a hall of famer since my goal and my focus was to play professional football, but hall of fame is really an almost crazy term to think of because of the seer amount of great players have come through decades of playing, which you could say is the best of the best of the best and to me it's just really mind-blowing to be a part of it now. 
 
Q: What advice would you give to current and future CWU students?
 
Adam: Obviously everyone's goal is to play division one, because it's the biggest stage, you'd love to play there. However, at the end of the day some opportunities for whatever reason may not allow you to. My thought was thadt if you're good enough then they'll find you from anywhere to be able to make it to the next level. So, put your nose down, your head down and grind and put the work in, and just go take what you want. You have a special opportunity to play at the next level, and you can still take advantage of everything that's in front of you no matter where you're at you can still do a lot of special things, just don't let anything stop you. You can't cheat the grind, you have to pay rent every single day, and if you do, good things will happen. 
 
Q: How did that mindset help you get to playing professionally?
 
Adam: For me playing professionally was my number one focus, and I took it very seriously. I knew that if football for some reason didn't work out I'd need to have a backup plan. So, what I'd say has made me so successful is the sheer amount of hard work that I've been able to put in consistently, and doing all the little things consistently. I had to have strict dedication, because no one wakes up every single day and is rearing to go to train or to workout or to do whatever it is that'll push you or that you may find boring, because you can find any excuse in the world not to do it. I remember a lot of times that I'd be the only one in the gym just because guys were out doing other things, and I was there doing it myself. I did have some really good training partners that grinded along the way with me, which I'm very very very thankful for. Even to today, it comes down to sacrifice what are you willing to do to be successful? What are you willing to sacrifice? My focus was that if it's not going to make me a better football player then it's not getting included in my life. So, I'm just really really disciplined on what it is I want my goal to be and following that goal. You have to take action everyday in your goals, and that's the only way you're going to get closer. 
 
Q: What were some of your fondest memories at Central?
 
Adam: My freshman year was one of the most memorable just because you're coming into a whole new environment. You're the young guy. You're looking around at all these guys that are 21, 22, some 23, almost full-grown men. The new sense of pace, the new sense of urgency, the new speed, the new physicality, and getting used to the new routines at Central. Coming out of the Pavilion for gameday, running up the ramp, and running onto the field and hearing the crowd was so much fun. Being able to watch players that have set the bar and set the tone for what Central is you get to learn from these guys like Reilly, Bronson, Johnny Spevak, Aaron Gilbert, and Tony Quirk, guys that leave an impact with you in so many ways. So, for me the playoff games that we played in were very memorable and how successful we were for that period of time. Some of the guys that grinded with me that were my training partners, I spent a lot of time with grinding and that stuff is memorable. Football, the journey, that's great but the time that I spent with the guys in the locker room is some of the most memorable things. I don't remember scores and games hardly at all, I remember key moments and I remember the moments I shared with the guys. 
 
Q: What did you take from the lessons you had at Central to help you get to where you are now in life? 
 
Adam: What I learned at Central was that if you put in the work, good things will happen. When you prepare for the moment when the moment comes, you can take advantage of it. Don't wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder and say hey it's your turn go give it a shot, you want to be prepared for that, you don't want to start preparing once you get tapped on the shoulder. My college experience reaffirmed that that's how you really become successful. I remember as a freshman the first training camp, we're doing conditioning, and I'm near the pack or leading and beating everyone on the team in terms of conditioning as a freshman. As I look back that's my incent of wanting to do that and willing to go through the pain more than anyone else, and those are the kinds of things that help you set yourself apart. It's not easy, not everyone wants to do that, but those are the things that really end up making a difference. 
 
Q: You're a three-time Grey Cup Champion, three-time CFL Most Outstanding Devensive Player, what is the feeling like seeing your success post-collegiate level and into the professional ranks?
 
Adam: As I got to the pro ranks and now I'm playing professional football, the goal is to become one of the best ever to play. I didn't really change much of anything with my process at the professional level compared to the collegiate or high school levels because it's been working so far just as a body of discipline, sacrifice, and hard work. So, to be able to separate myself at the professional level even, from being a rookie, to being an all-star, to being defensive player of the year, and winning Grey Cups, it's a similar mountain you have to climb in terms of work and effort. It's amazing because you never know what you're capable of until you push yourself to the extreme. It's a very uncomfortable place especially because a lot of people want to go there, but if people do go there, they'll find out so much about themselves and what they're capable of. I think that's the hallmark of myself and my story is that I'm probably a guy that probably shouldn't be playing professional football for 13 years and being able to play in the CFL and the NFL and win Grey Cups and be defensive player of the year three-times, but the fact is that I wanted to. I made it happen, it's not luck and I think a story like mine can help motivate and help others understand what it really takes to be successful, which is hard work, effort, consistency, sacrifice, it's not always about talent. You have to have some talent, but at the same time if talent doesn't work then what? For me it's pretty awesome to be able to see myself taking the same process and rewriting it at the professional level and having the success that I've had. I'm not going to say I'm surprised because it worked previously, so I expected it to work in the pros and it did. When I was tapped on the shoulder and given that opportunity I fully took advantage of it. That's something that I think has been all I needed for my life is give me an opportunity and I'll take advantage and run with it. I'm obviously thankful for the opportunities when they come, but I'm very proud that I've been able to take advantage of them every single time.