Inside T.Y. Hilton’s world: 13 stories of the Colts star who no one saw coming

He came into our consciousness as a relative unknown. He was a baby-faced kid with cornrows and a funny name from a school few in Indiana had heard of.

FIU? What’s the “I” stand for again?

He was diminutive and soft-spoken. His answers were concise. It was difficult to know what to think.

You can admit it now. At some point, you might have asked yourself: Is this the guy who is supposed to carry on the legacy of Marvin and Reggie?

Fast forward nine years and kids all over Indiana are wearing his jersey and emulating his trademark “T.Y.” touchdown celebration. It’s amazing how things seem to stick after you’ve seen them a few dozen times.

Eugene Marquis “T.Y.” Hilton has gone from third-round pick from Florida International to one of the finest players in Colts history.

How far has he come?

They hung his likeness on the side of the stadium. He’s gone to four Pro Bowls. Only three Colts have more career receiving yards. Their names: Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Raymond Berry (Hilton is just two yards shy of Berry after Sunday’s game).

Only Harrison and Wayne have more 1,000-yard seasons. Neither has more 150-yard games.

The kid who found football at Gwen Cherry Park in inner-city Miami has, inexplicably, become a household name in the Heartland. Defensive backs across the NFL know his name, too, having made the fatal mistake of believing they could defend him.

Even so, all these years later, can you say you really know Hilton? He’s 31 now, still the quiet guy who rarely lets anyone in.

But as he winds down the final season on his current contract, with an uncertain future in Indianapolis ahead of him, Hilton found some time to crack open the window just a bit.

What emerged from that conversation with The Athletic was 13 things you should know about No. 13. That’s 13 more reasons to treasure a player Colts fans never saw coming but, now, can never forget.

1. Family over everything

The Hilton family — and by family, we mean parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles — is a tight-knit group.

They gather monthly back home in Liberty City in Northwest Miami. A big dinner, lots of laughter, storytelling and bonding. It’ll never change.

“We’re real tight,” Hilton said. “People come and go, but your family will always be there for you no matter what. So, having a tight family that’s there for you in good or bad times, that’s big. Like my grandma, she’s my rock. Having her around means a lot to me. She’s special.

“Being around a family-oriented group taught me how to raise my own kids. And I had to grow up quick. I had my son my senior year of high school. So, I had to grow up quick and become a man early. It really helped me be ready for the situation that I had.”

He and wife Shantrell now have three kids, and Hilton is playing out the final weeks of a once-unfathomable $65 million contract. But everything he is today was shaped in that modest house back in Miami under the watchful eye of his hard-working parents, Cora and Tyrone.

It was his father, Tyrone, who introduced Hilton to football. A former football star himself, Tyrone has coached youth ball for years at Gwen Cherry Park, Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown among them.

“I probably wouldn’t be here without him,” Hilton says of his father. “Him and my mom really pushed me.

“He was a tough coach. When I’m out there, I’m not his son. I’m a player. That’s how it was. He coached me that way. He never babied me. He always made it hard for me and tough on me. But he made sure I stayed focused.”

The 13th receiver drafted in 2012, Hilton is used to having to prove himself via his work ethic. “Trust me, behind the scenes, I’m working,” he says. (Mike Dinovo / USA Today)

2. An uncompromising work ethic

Scroll through your Instagram feed on any given day during the NFL offseason and the images are inescapable: You will, invariably, find NFL players sharing glimpses of their training.

A snappy caption and a photo taken at just the right angle leaves the intended impression: They’re putting in the work and they’ll be ready when the season arrives. No one is going to outwork them — or so they seem to be implying.

Hilton sees them, too. And then he shrugs.

“I’ll let everybody else do all that other stuff, all that talk,” Hilton said. “Whatever. They can have that. Trust me, behind the scenes, I’m working. When you’re sleeping, I’m still working. So, when it’s time to go hunt, I’m gonna always be there. I’m always working. Just because you don’t see me posting… You can ask guys who work out with me. You gotta be ready to grind. You gotta be ready to go. I’m going to make you tap out.”

The other oddity about Hilton is his preference to conduct his own workouts. He doesn’t have a highly-paid personal trainer or use a fancy training facility. He knows his body and knows what it needs. Hey, if it ain’t broke, right?

Hilton tells a story about this past offseason, when he was joined in his rigorous workouts by a pair of current NFL players. He spared them from indignity by declining to name them.

“They tapped out both times,” Hilton said.

3. Game time

Hilton is a serious gamer — video games, that is.

He tends to play Madden during football season and NBA2K during basketball season. But, Hilton, often described as a big kid by his teammates, always finds time to play Fortnite. He can spend hours on end playing the game.

“That’s all I’ve been doing these days,” he said.

It’s one of the things that endears him to younger teammates.

“When we get in the locker room,” Hilton said, “that’s all we talk about.”

Hilton and Andrew Luck formed a bond in their six seasons playing together in Indianapolis. Both were part of the Colts’ 2012 draft class. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

4. Staying power

Hilton was the 13th receiver selected in the 2012 draft.

Examining those who were chosen before he was taken at No. 92 overall is quite the exercise.

Of those 12 players, none has come remotely close to Hilton’s production. Just two, Alshon Jeffery (45th overall) and Mohamed Sanu (83rd), remain on active rosters. Those 12 players have a combined four 1,000-yard seasons. Hilton alone has five.

Don’t think for a second that Hilton is unaware of this.

“Where I come from, we always have that chip on our shoulder no matter what,” he said. “I could have gotten drafted higher, but I came into the draft with a torn quad. So, I knew I was going to fall. But everything happens for a reason.”

Top wide receivers, 2012 draft

Player	Pick	Team	Seasons	Catches	Yards
Justin Blackmon	5	Jaguars	3	93	1,280
Michael Floyd	13	Cardinals	7	266	3959
Kendall Wright	20	Titans	6	339	3,858
A.J. Jenkins	30	49ers	3	17	223
Brian Quick	33	Rams	7	114	1,593
Stephen Hill	43	Jets	3	106	594
Alshon Jeffery	45	Bears	9	474	6,764
Ryan Broyles	54	Lions	3	32	420
Rueben Randle	63	Giants	4	188	2,644
DeVier Posey	68	Texans	3	22	272
T.J. Graham	69	Bills	4	61	794
Mohamed Sanu	83	Bengals	9	416	4,659
T.Y. Hilton	92	Colts	9	602	9,273

5. A friend for life

Andrew Luck’s retirement did not impact the friendship built between him and his former No. 1 receiver.

Luck and Hilton remain close and talk weekly, Hilton said. Their conversations can run the gamut.

“The other day he was texting me about some tips on diapers,” Hilton said of Luck, whose first child, Lucy, recently had her first birthday.

The relationship is particularly meaningful to Hilton. He and Luck came into the league together and were enjoying dual ascents before Luck suddenly stepped away. But it’s the off-the-field memories that will stick with Hilton most.

Asked to recall his most memorable moments of the past nine seasons, Hilton names three: The improbable 28-point comeback against the Chiefs in a 2013 wild-card game (Hilton scored the winning touchdown), his 223-yard performance against Houston in 2014 and, above all, a heart-to-heart talk with Luck in a quiet corner at Colts headquarters.

“Back when Luck retired, that conversation with him,” Hilton recalls. “It was tough. It’s something I’ll never forget. A lot of emotion, a lot of crying, a lot of hugs — just us telling each other we love each other. I understood where he was coming from. I think that was my No. 1 moment right there.”

Every time i think about it, Tears start to flow 😭😭😭. No one understands you like i do. Our bond is one of a kind. I’ve decided to dedicate my season to my BEST FRIEND. I Love You 12. #Luck2Hilton
— TY Hilton (@TYHilton13) August 26, 2019

6. Respect for the game

As Hilton reflects on draft day back in 2012, he remembers trying to digest the enormity of it all. Just the idea of being drafted was an all-consuming prospect.

But, add to that the reality that he was headed for Indianapolis. Even then, miles away from the Circle City, Hilton knew what that meant and has never taken the responsibility lightly.

“I was getting a chance to play with Reggie and be in a place with all the great receivers they’ve had,” he said of Wayne and the Colts. “I didn’t want to come up here and slack off. They had Marvin, they had Reggie, they had Pierre Garcon. It was a receiver-dominant (team). So, I knew there was going to come a time when I was going to have to step up and hold the fort down. That’s what I’ve been doing all these years.”

7. T.Y Hilton, point guard

The hardwood has always had an appeal to Hilton. And that’s for good reason.

Young Hilton was a hooper. And he was legit.

Small as he might be, he was an all-county basketball player at Miami Springs High. Almost won the county scoring title one year.

“I lost it by 0.2 points,” Hilton said. “It hurt me, man. I scored 22 in the last game and the other guy scored 24, so he beat me.”

His hoop dreams didn’t necessarily die after he elected to play football at FIU. The idea of Hilton joining the basketball team at the school came up regularly. And Hilton helped fuel the notion by dominating members of the basketball team during open gyms. Were it not for a few late-season football injuries, he might have gone through with it at some point.

“I was actually killing them,” Hilton said. “I kept feeding the big man in the pick-and-roll. They were loving it! But I just stopped. I don’t know why.”

A free agent this offseason, Hilton plans on continuing to play beyond this year — wherever that may be. He needs just three more yards to move into third on the Colts’ all-time receiving list. (Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)

8. He’s not done

Hilton is due to be a free agent in the spring, so whether he returns isn’t totally up to him. But whatever happens, he plans on playing somewhere next season.

Hilton takes great exception to an idea that took hold the past two seasons — when he missed a combined eight games — that he was this oft-injured player who couldn’t stay healthy. He believes he’s dispelled that this season, missing just one game with a groin injury. He prefers to be thought of more as the guy who, in his first six seasons, missed just two games.

“The past two years, it was just freak accidents,” Hilton says. “The one with my calf (in 2019), I ran that same route maybe two minutes before. But then I ran the route again and it popped. I don’t know what happened.

“And then, the year before that, when I hurt my ankle, it got caught up under (a tackler). I mean, when have you ever seen a guy with a high- and low-ankle sprain on the same ankle? It’s unheard of. It’s freak stuff. So, I haven’t changed anything. I just take care of my body. I feel great. I’m having fun.”

9. He beat the odds

Better men than Hilton have fallen prey to the street life in Liberty City.

“You can hang around the wrong crowd or the wrong person at the wrong time, and it could end your life,” Hilton said. “Coming out of that part of Miami, you’re blessed to even see 20.”

There’s a version of Miami you see on television. And then there is the Miami that Hilton grew up knowing. They are not the same.

“The wrong people can get you locked up in jail or dead,” Hilton said. “So, I had a pretty tight group I stayed with. And my family made sure I stayed around the right people. But you gotta find a way. Only the strong survive out there.

“I had a lot of people I know who went to jail and a lot of people who died. It was crazy. I guess that’s real life.”

Despite a slow season statistically, Hilton says he’s just happy to be winning games with Philip Rivers (left) under center. “You value winning because it’s hard,” he says. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

10. All about winning

Throughout this underwhelming statistical season for Hilton, he and the Colts have maintained the same story: Hilton is fine taking a back seat as long as the team is winning.

It sounds like a line. And, to an extent, it is. Quarterback Philip Rivers and coach Frank Reich both admit the competitor in Hilton probably expected to have more than 675 yards through 13 games.

But Hilton hasn’t complained, mostly because the Colts are 10-4.

He’s had big numbers. Hilton even led the NFL in receiving yards in 2016. What he wants more of at this point in his career are victories. Time has taught him the value of winning and how difficult it is to achieve.

“My first year, we made it to the first round,” Hilton said of the 2012 Colts. “My second year, we make it to the second round. Third year, we make it to the third round. So, in my fourth year, we were like, ‘OK, it’s time for the Super Bowl!’

“And then we don’t even get to the playoffs.”

The Colts have made the postseason just once since 2014. And it stings.

“You value winning because it’s hard,” Hilton said. “Any given week, you can get beat. It happens in this league. Those other guys get paid, too, and they’re coming at your head every week. It just comes down to who has the will to win more. It’s tough, but as you get older you want to try to accomplish that goal as quick as you can because Father Time is not on your side.”

11. A tough coach

Just like Tyrone coached T.Y. hard, the son is now doing the same for his own boys.

Thirteen-year-old Eugene and 8-year-old Ty are already attempting to follow in their dad’s footsteps. They love playing football and, specifically, wide receiver.

And they’ve got the best receivers coach a kid could want.

“I take a lot of pride in teaching them and showing them the ropes,” Hilton said. “I don’t really say much. I just work and I let them see me work. I’m the blueprint for them on how to get to the league and how to be successful. But I also let them know that you ain’t just gonna walk out there and play. You gotta work. That’s what I show them: Daddy’s working.

“So, every time I go work out, they’re coming with me. I’m showing them my route technique and how to make their routes better. All of it… They’ve been working out with me, so anybody who gets in front of them, they don’t really have a chance. They’re willing to learn though. They want to do it right. And when they do it wrong, I’m on them until they get it right. Dropped passes? No, we don’t accept that. But I really love the way they take the coaching and continue to compete.”

Hilton helped coach Eugene on a flag team last year that proved to be something of a juggernaut.

“We won by an average of about 40 (points),” Hilton said. “We played in the eighth grade and under (division) and I had all seventh graders.”

As for Gigi, the baby girl, she’s now 6 and has taken to gymnastics. What kind of future does she have? Who knows? But if she takes after her brothers, you probably won’t want your kid competing against her.

Happy 5th Birthday GG🎉🎊
— TY Hilton (@TYHilton13) November 23, 2019

12. A special draft class

Hilton will always feel fortunate to be a part of one of the finest draft classes in franchise history.

In one draft, the Colts landed Hilton, Luck, tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen and running back Vick Ballard. All played significant roles as rookies and helped the Colts rebound from 2-14 in 2011 to 11-5 a year later. Ballard, Fleener and, to an extent, Luck, saw their careers shortened by injuries. But they certainly were a unique group.

“I was lucky and blessed that the Colts called me, especially with a chance to be a part of a rookie class like that,” Hilton said. “Luck, Fleener, Dwayne — all of us. I guess it was a blessing that I was hurt going into the draft. But I knew that I could play with anybody. My thing was to go in and work hard for whoever drafted me and let them know they didn’t make a mistake.”

13. Keep it low-key

For a guy whose job it is to entertain millions of fans, Hilton is surprisingly shy.

He is the king of the one-sentence answer in interviews. He eschews the limelight. Have you ever seen the guy in a commercial?

Don’t get it twisted: Not everything about him is understated. Take, for instance, the bright yellow Lamborghini. You can’t miss it.

But Hilton is perfectly happy being off the radar. He’s the rare NFL player with barely even a social-media presence. He’s got the obligatory Twitter account, but he rarely posts.

“That doesn’t matter to me,” Hilton said. “I’ve never been a social-media guy. I don’t like that. I’d rather just be me.”

And now that Hilton has decided to pull back the curtain ever so slightly, you finally know who, exactly, that is.

(Top photo: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)