Sprinkled throughout every professional sports league are unlikely success stories of people who, despite having the odds stacked against them, made it. They worked hard, a scout discovered them somewhere along the way, and now they’re living a dream. Krishawn Hogan, an Indianapolis Colts wide receiver who graduated from Warren Central High School and played college football at Marian University, is one such story.
Hogan has a few “first” references next to his name. He was the first player from Marian to get an invite to the NFL Combine. He was the first player from Marian to sign with an NFL team when he joined the Arizona Cardinals in May 2017. And he was the first player from Marian to play in an NFL regular season game.
If making it from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to the NFL seems improbable, consider where Hogan was before he arrived at Marian.
“Kind of a knucklehead. Kind of immature.”
That’s how Steve Tutsie, Warren Central’s head coach for Hogan’s senior season in 2012, described Hogan during that time. Tutsie said they “butted heads” a couple times that year, but that Hogan’s competitiveness wasn’t in question. Hogan didn’t even get to play until his senior season, when he caught 20 passes for one touchdown. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but Tutsie noted that Warren Central’s quarterback that year hurt his arm and struggled to throw the ball.
“There were days on the scout team in high school when I really questioned my love of the game,” Hogan said, “and pushing through really shows you the answer.”
Hogan originally went to Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio), where he played in 10 games in 2013. From there, Hogan transferred to Marian, ready for another uphill battle. He wasn’t a very talented player by that time, Marian head coach Mark Henninger said. Hogan also had a habit of making excuses and took coaching as a personal attack. But Henninger said he eventually came around.
“To his credit, he took coaching incredibly well,” Henninger said. “Wanted to be coached, wanted to be coached hard. Fell in love with the weight room and worked as hard as anyone I’ve been around.”
Tutsie was also a defensive coach at Marian when Hogan was there and saw the same character improvement.
“I told him every day how proud of him I was,” Tutsie said. “Not because of the accolades, but because he grew up.”
One thing Hogan never lacked was size. Marian’s football roster listed Hogan at 6-foot-4 for his senior season in 2016 (the Colts list him now at 6-foot-3), and he had speed to run past even the best cornerbacks at Marian, including an All-American track athlete. NFL scouts started paying attention to Hogan after his junior year, which Henninger said served as validation to Hogan that putting his head down and working was paying off.
“It was my goal from day one when I stepped foot on campus,” Hogan said of making it to the NFL. “It was just a lot of hard work that paid off. The university, they took really good care of me while I was there. I can’t thank them enough.”
Marian’s football program of course holds Hogan in high regard because of the success he’s enjoyed since leaving, but Henninger said there’s more to it than what happened on the field.
“We hold him up not as an example because he’s in the NFL, but as a guy who did things right while he was here,” he said.
Hogan, 23, is now in his second NFL season. One day after the Cardinals cut him in September 2017, the Colts signed him to the practice team. On Sept. 26 last year, the Colts activated Hogan to the active roster, and he played in two games, the second of which was at home against the San Francisco 49ers. It was in that game that Hogan tore the ACL and MLC in his left knee making a tackle on special teams. The Colts signed Hogan to the practice team again in October this season, and that’s where he remains.
“It’s just another opportunity to make a name for myself,” Hogan said. “It’s all I can ask for.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
