T . Y . Hilton Eugene " T . Y . " Hilton ( born November 14 , 1989 ) is an American football wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts . He attended Florida International University before getting drafted 92nd overall in the 2012 NFL Draft . Early years . Hilton was born to Tyrone and Cora Hilton . He attended Miami Springs High School and was a two - sport star ( basketball and football ) for the Golden Hawks . He was selected by the Miami Herald as a First Team All - Dade player in football in his senior year , while also selected as a First Team All - Dade in basketball both his junior and senior years . He averaged 18 . 7 yards per catch as a senior , with 785 receiving yards accumulated in the season to go with 16 touchdowns . He was also successful as a kick returner , returning four kicks for touchdowns in 10 games . Hilton committed to Florida International University on February 6 , 2008 . He was scouted by the University of Mississippi , West Virginia University , the University of Florida and FIU . He made the choice to go to FIU over West Virginia the night before National Signing Day , when his son chose FIU eight times in a row when he put both an FIU and West Virginia hat in front of him . College career . Hilton was a starter under Mario Cristobal in every year of his enrollment at FIU . In 2008 , he returned a punt for a touchdown in his collegiate debut against Kansas on his first touch of the game . Later that year , in a game against Arkansas State , he threw a 38 - yard touchdown pass to Junior Mertile late in the game after he fumbled the hand off in a reverse play . This play became known in FIU as " The Hilton Heave " . He was responsible for 12 touchdowns in his freshman year , scoring them all in five different ways , the first player in the program to do so ( 7 receiving touchdowns , 2 rushing touchdowns , 1 throwing touchdown , 1 punt return , 1 kickoff return ) . He also set the FIU single season record for total receiving yards ( 41 receptions for 1 , 013 yards ) , average yards per reception ( 24 . 7 yards per reception ) and all - purpose yardage ( 2 , 162 ) . He finished his freshman season ranked third in the nation in all - purpose yardage per game , with an average of 180 . 25 yards per contest and consequently named Sun Belt Freshman Player of the Year . Foreshadowing the start of FIU ' s 2009 campaign against Alabama , Nick Saban referred to Hilton as " a better offensive player than anybody [ from Virginia Tech ] that we played against last week " . In 2009 , Hilton ' s first touch of the season was a 96 - yard kickoff return against Alabama . He paced the team with 57 catches for 632 yards and 5 touchdowns , as well as returning 22 kickoffs for 633 yards , despite struggling with an injured knee picked up in the fifth game of the season against Western Kentucky . He finished his sophomore season with 1 , 301 all - purpose yards . In 2010 , Hilton got off to a slow start , scoring no touchdowns in the first four games of the season , before returning home to play WKU and scoring his first touchdown of the season , a rushing touchdown . After a mid - season loss to FAU , Hilton came back strong the next game against Louisiana - Monroe , scoring 4 separate touchdowns , the first coming on a 95 - yard kick return while the others were two passes from Wesley Carroll and the last a rushing touchdown . Later in the season against Troy , Hilton put up 158 yards rushing in 6 carries with two rushing touchdowns on his way to helping set a school record of 448 total rushing yards in a game . In his school ' s first bowl game appearance in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl , Hilton returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of the game against Toledo . He was also instrumental in a late hook and lateral play on a 4th - and - 17 situation , helping his team get the first down and keeping them alive to eventually set up the winning field goal . He was named the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl MVP for his efforts in helping his team beat Toledo , 34 - 32 . At the end of his junior season , Hilton was honored as Sun Belt Player of the Year , as well as being named to the All - Sun Belt Conference First Team at the wide receiver and return specialist positions . He finished his junior season with 2 , 089 all - purpose yards , 848 of them on receptions over 59 catches and 282 rushing yards over 30 carries , a personal best . In 2011 , Hilton got off to a hot start , putting up a school record 283 all - purpose yards in FIU ' s rout of North Texas . A week later , Hilton was instrumental in FIU ' s 24 - 17 upset of Louisville , with 74 and 83 yard catches for touchdowns . He finished that game with 7 receptions for 201 yards , breaking his school and personal single game receiving records . Professional career . 2012 NFL Draft . On April 27 , 2012 , Hilton was selected with the 92nd pick of the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts . Indianapolis Colts . In late May , 2012 Hilton signed a contract with Indianapolis worth $ 2 . 642 million over 4 years . Hilton will be utilized during his rookie season as a punt / kick returner and as a receiver in the slot . Hilton will bring well needed speed and will add depth to the Indianapolis receiving corps . Hilton was the first of Indianapolis ' s 2012 1st - 3rd round picks to be signed . During a Week 12 game against the Buffalo Bills , Hilton returned a 75 - yard punt return and later caught an 8 - yard touchdown pass . The two scores proved to be the difference in a 20 - 13 victory .