King of the ( Big) Hill
B. C. Lions linebacker has trucks in his DNA
Adam Bighill is a gamer. Anyone who has watched the third- year BC Lion linebacker shed blockers to hunt down a scrambling quarterback knows that firsthand.
So it wasn’t too surprising that just days after suffering a bad ankle sprain in the Leos’ 24- 16 win last week over reigning Grey Cup champions, the Toronto Argonauts, Bighill was still game to drive a 2013 Nissan Frontier C/ C Pro- 4X 4x4. True, it wasn’t a manual, which would have required the import player to use that injured left foot to change gears, but given Bighill’s tenacious reputation, he’d most likely have jumped in with both feet anyway.
This Frontier model is a good fit with Bighill, as it’s tricked out with all manner of factory add- ons that take an already solid 4x4 and turn it into a trail hound.
These include “Rugged Trail” Owl tires, a removable rear tailgate, Pro- 4X Bilstein shocks, 4- wheel limited slip differential, and skid plates protecting the fuel tank, oil pan and transfer case.
There’s also an electronically controlled locking rear differential and a towing capacity of 2,766 kg ( 6,100 lbs.).
Bighill tips the scales at 100 kilos ( 230 pounds) on a fivefootfour frame, making him, like the Frontier, a very solid, if not large, and complete package.
Not surprisingly for a guy who grew up in small- town Washington state, this guy knows his way around a pickup truck.
“Where I grew up there are power lines everywhere, meaning lots of great off- road trails,” the 24- year old says as we pull out of the Lions practice facility for a drive in the Frontier. “Probably 80 per cent of the guys I grew up with had pickup trucks.”
His hometown of Montesano — population just a little south of 4,000, location just a little west of Olympia — is also one of those sleepy towns where kids often get some time behind the wheel before the age of 16, and Bighill was no exception.
“My dad would let me drive on the old highway, which wasn’t very busy, when I was 13 or 14,” he says.
“He had a Mazda Protégé, and it was a manual, too, so it was fun. Usually every Friday afternoon he’d pick me up after school and we’d go do the drive.”
Eager to get legal behind the wheel, Bighill went to a private driving school that allowed him to enrol in when he was just 15- and- a- half. Meaning he could finish the course before he was 16; meaning the day he reached that age, he could get his licence. Which he did.
“At the time, if you don’t have your licence and a car there was just not much to do. It was kind of liberating,” he says of driving. “And I knew that I couldn’t get a cellphone until I was driving, so that was another reason to start.
“So, two liberating things at once.”
He obviously learned well as he’s never been in an accident nor had a speeding ticket.
“This truck really brings me back to my old truck,” he says as we find some open roadway, “Minus all the bells and whistles, the ride really feels the same.”
He also likes the fact the Frontier’s rear seats are roomy and comfortable.
“Yeah,” he says with a laugh, “the back seats are a little bigger than my old B4000 — I had the two sideways seats that folded down, so it was always rock paperscissors to see who got stuck back there.”
Since he’s been in Vancouver — he was drafted by the Lions in 2011 — his view of cars has, how shall we say, expanded.
“I started seeing cars up here that I ain’t ever seen before. Audi R8s, I saw a Viper yesterday. Ferraris. Maseratis. I never saw anything like that in my small town. The nicest vehicle back home is probably a nice SUV.”