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INDIANAPOLIS – It's a quote you frequently hear draftees say when their name "slips" during the NFL Draft.

You could make the argument that, frankly, every rookie thinks they should have gone higher than they actually did come draft time.

T.Y. Hilton is one of those people.

Words are one thing.

Hilton's actions are on a completely different level.

His mantra going out there each week goes something like this…

"I've been an underdog my whole life," Hilton says.

"Whatever team that drafted me, I was going to make the other 31 pay, no matter what. That chip on my shoulder is never, ever, going away."

Entering NFL season No. 4, any redraft of the 2012 NFL Draft would see Hilton skyrocket from the No. 92 selection the Colts used on him at the end of the third round.

A dozen wide receivers were taken before Hilton.

Three NFL seasons later and Hilton's 3,280 receiving yards and 16 100-yard games easily stand above the rest.

The attention towards Hilton has begun to grow in a couple of particular ways.

Despite a loaded wide receiver position around the NFL, Hilton merited enough consideration to be named a Pro Bowler in 2014.

Defenders have taken notice, too.

"He's a guy that can take the top off the defense at any time," safety Donte Whitner, who has faced Hilton with the 49ers and Browns, says.

It's that December matchup last year with the Browns which All-Pro cornerback Joe Haden vividly remembers.

Hilton's nine catches and 141 yards following halftime won't appear on Haden's highlight tape anytime soon.

"I think (Hilton) might have been the fastest receiver I had to cover last year," Haden says.

Houston is where Hilton has torched defenses throughout his trio of NFL seasons.

Texans safety Danieal Manning witnessed Hilton's nine-catch, 223-yard night last October.

"He's so explosive," Manning says of Hilton. "He can blow the roof off."

If it hasn't already happened, defenses top priority has to be trying to take away the dynamic Hilton.

Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor said that was the goal back when the Steelers and Colts met in Week Eight of the 2014 season was to take away Hilton.

Those efforts still ended with Hilton catching six balls for 155 yards and a touchdown.

"This game right here, we are not letting T.Y. beat us," Taylor says watching highlights from Hilton's game against Pittsburgh.

"That says a lot for a young man who just came into the league."