Beginning Thursday night, dreams will come true for over 200 young men in the NFL Draft. Theusual suspects will have multiple names called - Alabama, Clemson, USC, etc. - and there will be those from non-Power 5 Division I programs as well. However, there might be one name called from a school never heard from before. Krishawn Hogan of Marian University - Indianapolis.
Hogan, a 6-4, 225 pound wide receiver, wrapped up an illustrious career at Marian in November and he leaves the NAIA as one of the greatest players in history. And he did it all in three seasons. A graduate of Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, Hogan played just one season of varsity ball and ended his high school career with 20 catches and one touchdown. Suffice to say, he was lightly recruited and left Walsh University after just one season.
He came back home and took classes at Ivy Tech while working the night shift as a janitor. He enrolled at Marian University, fell in love with the weight room as he likes to say and started tearing up the NAIA competition. Hogan was a touchdown machine, finding the end zone 67 times in 40 games. He won a national title and finished runner-up a season later. All of his work and success led to a Combine invite where he was nearly flawless. Now, the Draft looms.
Stories like Krishawn Hogan's aren't necessarily new. There are guys like him every year in the Draft. But I don't and won't know them. I've had the pleasure of working with Krishawn for the past year at Marian so forgive me if my bias shows through.
Count on Hogan to make it in the league. Will he be drafted or eventually see playing time? That's not something I consider myself an expert on. But will he put in the work and do it the right way? Yes, that I know. Hogan wasn't born with an NFL body. He's made his into one with hours in the weight room at Marian. Last Saturday, the Marian football field was empty (a rare occasion at a school with 24 sports) around 3 p.m. in the afternoon except for one guy - Hogan. There's a million other things a 22-year-old kid could be doing on a Saturday afternoon, but for a guy trying to make the NFL, he was right where he needed to be, putting himself through various drills and exercises.
His journey and unlikely story has drawn national attention. The Indy Star ran a feature on him prior to the Combine and Sports Illustrated featured him as well. ESPN came to campus last week and will run a story on him during Sportscenter this Saturday. On a small campus, it would be easy for the spotlight to go to Hogan's head. However, he has remained as humble as can be through the entire process and never big times anybody.
Plenty of teams are interested in Hogan, who has been projected as high as the fourth round. But despite all his talent, he must shed the small-school label as the Draft begins. The skills are there and the team that drafts him will get a steal, but it will take a risk. Yet it's a risk worth taking for a guy who can dominate on the field, but also be a quality individual off of it.
A lifetime of work has led up to this for Hogan. An unlikely story, but a story that is about to begin its greatest chapter.
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