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INDIANAPOLIS – Chuck Pagano knows circumstances.

In 2012, Pagano embarked on the fight of his life, determined to return to the job he had always dreamed of having.

So when the head coach was listening to sixth-round pick Josh Robinson tell his own story, the head coach could relate.

Robinson's "circumstances" began at the age of 12.

On May 23, 2004, Robinson's grandmother, the woman who had raised him, died suddenly from a heart attack.

Exactly one year later (May 23, 2005), Robinson's grandfather passed away.

Another curve ball was thrown at Robinson when at the age of 17, he sat in the principal's office of his high school to hear the news that his mother had been sentenced to 18 years in prison (on February 23, 2011).

The odds were once again stacked against him. But, with the help of some key figures, Robinson persevered.

"That's grit. That's what we talk about all the time," Chuck Pagano says of Robinson's journey.

"That's not somebody saying OK, because of this, this and this, this is why I'm where I'm at. This kid said, 'I'm going to overcome circumstances. I'm going to overcome adversity no matter what. I'm going to prove everybody wrong.' There were probably a bunch of people when he was growing up and in his life that said, 'You're not going to do this and you're not going to do that. You're too short, you don't have this, you don't have that. Blah, blah, blah.' Look at where he's at today, because he's already had some coaches or whoever, some support along the way to keep him going. He's got the intestinal fortitude. He's got will. He had the will to survive and overcome and not fall into that trap and play the complain game."

Robinson's main getaway as a teenager, filled with obstacles, was the game of football.

It's why Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen encouraged Robinson to graduate early from high school so their family could take in the kid who had bounced around 20 different families throughout childhood.

What Mullen and Mississippi State did for Robinson was bring him into an environment he had never had growing up.

How did Robinson repay them?

With a punishing running style (6.3 yards per carry), that helped the Bulldogs reach the No. 1 ranking last season for the first time in school history.

In 2014, Robinson averaged an eye-popping 3.5 yards after contact (per attempt) and led the nation's top conference with 11 rushing touchdowns.

"The running style, he fits what we do," Ryan Grigson said after the Colts drafted Robinson with the No. 205 pick in last week's draft.

"When you run that low to the ground and have that center of gravity, he's a bowling ball, and that's what they call him. To put up the yards he did in the SEC with a 6.3-yard average, that speaks for itself in that conference."

The Colts made it a priority to add Robinson to their own family after he left the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center for a top-30 visit last month.

Pagano marvels at the incredible path Robinson has taken to this point and is eager to have that story inside the horseshoe.

"We all find out when we're up against a wall you've got a little more than you ever thought you had to make it," Pagano said.

"This kid is a perfect example of that."