Wide receiver Krishawn Hogan is the first football player from Marian University (Indianapolis) ever to earn an invitation to the NFL Combine.

Hogan wasn’t a high school standout; in fact, he didn’t even make it on the field until his senior year. And when it came to college, he dropped out of his first college stop and ended up taking a job as a janitor.

As detailed in this piece by Zac Keefer of the Indianapolis Star, Hogan’s football dream was the one thing that kept him going.

Hogan ended up at Marian where, in three seasons, he became the best player in program history—and the best wide receiver in the NAIA. His desire to succeed, coupled with his commitment to the weight room, transformed Hogan as a player.

NFL scouts took notice, something that his head coach, Mark Henninger, hardly expected initially.

“In 2014, we could cover Krishawn in practice,” Henninger told the Indianapolis Star. “Not the next year. I remember the first play of fall camp, he runs a go-route against our top corner, who’s an All-American track guy, and just burns him. Right then and there, you’re like, ‘Maybe…’”

The Warren Central (Indianapolis) High School alum was 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds when he graduated high school. Now, he’s 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds, with statistics that have captured the attention of scouts from 20 NFL teams – 263 receptions, 42 touchdowns and 4,395 yards to be exact.

Although questions remain about the level of competition Hogan faced, his agent believes he’s got all the tools to be a bona fide draft selection—something Hogan will seek to prove at the NFL Combine. He's spent the last eight weeks in the EXOS Training Program at St. Vincent Sports Performance and is ready to show how he stacks up against players from other schools.

 “The great thing about the combine,” Hogan’s agent, Buddy Baker, told Keefer, “is that it’s easy to be objective. From a physical standpoint, those are objective numbers. What your size is, what you run, all that stuff. It doesn’t matter where you’re from…he’s a draftable player. He has draftable grades.”

Hogan’s story is a reminder to seize opportunity when it presents itself—and to never give up on chasing a dream.

“If I can make it, anyone can,” he said.