David Granson was driving home from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, with his stepson, Kylen, and he could see the excitement in the 17-year-old’s eyes. Kylen was finally becoming the football player he’d always dreamed he could be, no longer overlooked in a state that breeds next-level athletes.

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David was proud but cautious. As Kylen’s strength coach at Westlake, he knew firsthand the work Kylen put in to garner Division I interest because he was the one guiding him through it. The two spent countless early mornings and late nights together in the weight room and on the field to set Kylen on a path leading to the Indianapolis Colts. But early on, as the spotlight slowly increased, David wanted to make sure his stepson was protected.

So, as they rode home, David offered Kylen something that would last a lifetime.

He offered him his last name.

“I had the conversation with him about it like, ‘OK, along with (your rising stardom), there’s gonna be some things that come along with that and you need to know how to handle that,'” David said. “I was like, ‘There’s probably gonna be some people that you haven’t heard from in a long time or that you’ve never heard from, that will come out of the woodwork and all of a sudden they’re gonna want to be in your life.’ … As we were having that conversation, he was kind of like, ‘Well, what do I do about it? How do I handle that?’ That’s when we started talking about his name and he was like, ‘Well, you’re my dad,’ and that’s what initially sparked it.

“My idea was, ‘I know how I am, I know I’m gonna do right by him, I know the reason I’m doing these things for him,’ and so I offered him my last name because I know I’ll do right by him and it’ll be for the right reasons.”

Kylen recently reflected on that moment while standing on the field at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., after a Colts training camp practice. He’d seen the way his stepdad not only cared for him, but his sisters and mother.

That was the type of love that made changing his last name to match David’s a no-brainer. So just before he started his senior season in 2015, Kylen Skonning became Kylen Granson.

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“I remember a whole bunch of paperwork, a whole bunch of headaches just to get it done, but we finally got it done,” Kylen said. “But yeah, he definitely was a big influence because he was the head strength coach at my school, so he was the guy right in my workouts. Whenever I had injuries and stuff, he would tailor it and he would have my ass in there at 5:30 in the morning lifting, and when everybody went home for the night, he had me lifting again. So he definitely got after my butt as far as on the field. And then off the field, just having that presence there, it’s something that you don’t really appreciate until you realize, ‘Wow, I missed out on this the majority of my life.’ So it was definitely comforting to have him in the home, as well.”

Kylen’s mother, Heather, and David got married when Kylen was 15 and celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary Aug. 9. When Heather took David’s last name nearly a decade ago, she didn’t envision her son doing the same a couple of years later, but as it unfolded, she couldn’t think of a better man for Kylen to be named after.

David filled a void that no one else could.

“I have watched this transition in their relationship over the years and now David gets the phone calls before I do,” Heather said. “I was Kylen’s only main constant his whole life until David came along. Now to hear him say, ‘Oh, Kylen reached out to me today,’ and I’m like, ‘Wait, what? I didn’t get nothing.’ But in some of those important moments, he reaches out for his advice.

“I think those are the moments I appreciate more than when he changed his name because I’ve seen how the relationship has grown and I’ve seen how (Kylen’s) come to rely on him and his advice and his guidance, and to me that’s what a dad is, even more so than the name. I love that they share a name, but seeing their relationship grow has been what’s more important to me.”

Kylen Granson was born Kylen Stalbaum on March 27, 1998, receiving his mother’s maiden name. As an 8-year-old, his last name was changed to Skonning to match his first stepdad during his mother’s first marriage, and then changed again when Heather got divorced and married David several years later.

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Kylen, 24, is certain that his name changes are over. Granson is the one he’s proud to carry because David is the only father he’s ever truly had.

“I never actually knew my biological father and then (my mom) got remarried when I was 5 to my first stepdad,” Kylen said. “We moved down to Texas and then they divorced when I was in like seventh grade, so it was just me, my mom and my baby sisters at that point. I kind of had to take a bigger man’s role. It’s kind of tough being in seventh grade and having to be the man of the house.

“It definitely made me grow up. You had to reach a higher level of maturity when everyone else is not so mature, so that definitely made me an outlier.”

Despite Kylen’s biological dad not being around, Heather said she still had a ton of help as a single mom thanks to her mother, grandmother and aunts, who willingly babysat Kylen. They reminded him that he was wanted and loved no matter what.

“It was never just him and I isolated, and I think that might’ve helped buffer that feeling of loss,” Heather said. “And I’ve offered. There’s been times when I’ve told him like, ‘Hey, if you ever want to know, we can reach out,’ and he’s never expressed an interest (in meeting his biological father), ever. And I think that’s just his personality of being content like, ‘Why?’ We’re good.’ We’ve worked really hard to make sure he’s had a great life and had positive experiences and been able to participate in fun things.

“I don’t know if he ever really knew he was missing anything until David came along.”

Heather’s voice cracked with emotion while she reflected on her husband’s affinity for their son, and then she broke out in laughter while describing how David helped Kylen become a big-time athlete.

“I was like, ‘Are you sure? Like really sure?'” Heather said.

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Of course Heather wanted Kylen to be a talented football player, but as a longtime teacher, her main focus was for him to excel in the classroom.

David reassured that her that both were possible, though the football part wouldn’t happen overnight.

“Like any other kid, Kylen wanted to play Division I college football, and he was young then and very raw,” David said. “There were some things there, but they were far from being developed. But I remember when I first met them and one of the first times I met Kylen — because I had coached football for many years and I was a strength coach by trade, so development and training and all of that was what I did — the telling thing to me was that when I took him out to do some drills and stood next to him and he took off, you could feel the ground move. I was like, ‘That’s not normal.'”

David said Kylen was about 15 at the time, just starting out high school. After transferring twice and dealing with a litany of injuries, it all started to come together the summer heading into his senior season at Westlake. Kylen was bigger, faster and stronger, ready to show everyone that the benchwarmer they used to know no longer existed.

Then Kylen broke his right leg.

Heather said her son was devastated, fearing that his chance to earn a scholarship was over, but David wouldn’t let his stepson feel sorry for himself. So they worked out multiple times a day until Kylen was able to return, and after missing the first five games, Kylen was back on the field — alongside current Colts teammate Sam Ehlinger — leading Westlake to a state championship appearance in 2015 and making the Granson name known statewide.

Kylen’s most notable performance was when Westlake upset Allen High School in the state semifinals, ending Allen’s streak of 57 consecutive wins and three straight state titles. Kylen finished with seven catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s 23-17 victory, solidifying himself as one of the top players in the area.

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“(My stepdad’s) not really a mushy, gushy, emotions type of guy,” Kylen said, “but I remember him crying, ‘Oh god, we did it!’ We even got pictures of it in the house. It’s funny. I’m all smiles, he’s crying, my mom’s laughing. It was a good time, for sure.

“That’s when it felt like (my last name) became real because everywhere, in every newspaper it was like, ‘Granson had this big catch!’ and that was really cool.”

Kylen was lost.

He got Division I attention but his lone scholarship offer was from Rice. He was also offered an opportunity to play at Harvard, which doesn’t offer scholarships. He was excited to play for Rice coach David Bailiff, but Bailiff was fired after Kylen’s sophomore season. As a sign of solidarity, or perhaps stubbornness, Kylen left the program soon after his coach with no other opportunity lined up.

Had he just squandered his lone shot to play college football?

“That’s the guy he wanted to play for. That’s the guy he turned down Harvard for. … He didn’t want to be there anymore,” David said. “I wasn’t a fan of that decision, but it was his decision. He left Rice and didn’t have any idea (what was next). There was no transfer portal at that time. You leave, you’re on your own and you gotta figure it out yourself.”

But Kylen wasn’t alone. He had his mom and his stepdad, both of whom made sure he remained productive while he figured out his next move.

“We sat there in bed one night and me and my wife enrolled him in (Austin) Community College. When he woke up the next day, he knew he was enrolled in community college,” David said as he and his wife laughed. “He found out that morning and I was like, ‘You got a meeting. You gotta go talk to these people because you’re starting this week.'”

Heather said her son was always a good student, evidenced by the interest from Harvard, but he just needed a push. David gave him that and then some, training him every day just like they had in high school, so if another chance arose, Kylen would be ready for it.

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“At that point my dad had a gym, so I would just work out there every day, go to classes, come back, work out again,” Kylen said. “I mean, it’s not something I was foreign to. I was used to having to work hard because I broke my leg previously and I was working out four times a day, no joke, just to get a scholarship. So the grind is not something that’s new to me. It was just that next step, I didn’t know where it was gonna land, but I knew I wanted to make a splash wherever I landed.”

Kylen didn’t have to wait long.

While visiting the University of Texas campus, hoping to earn a walk-on spot, Kylen had a chance encounter with Bailiff, who didn’t even know Kylen left Rice. His former coach put a good word in for him with SMU coach Sonny Dykes, and Dykes offered Kylen, then a receiver, a walk-on spot.

Kylen took care of the rest, parlaying the 2018 season he missed due to NCAA transfer rules into a scholarship offer and two standout seasons at his new position of tight end. After Kylen reeled in 78 catches for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns at SMU, the Colts drafted him 127th in the fourth round last year.

“We never talked about playing in the NFL. It was never something we allowed him to talk too much about,” Heather said. “That was a long-shot dream and we were just prepping for him getting a good education.

“But to hear his name — our name — called, that was just icing on the cake.”

Colts safety Julian Blackmon likens the team’s tight end room to walking through “the redwoods.” Rookie Jelani Woods is 6-foot-7, veteran Mo Alie-Cox and rookie Drew Ogletree are 6-5, and then there’s Granson, listed generously at 6-3.

But what Granson lacks in size, he makes up for in speed. He’s the most versatile of the team’s tight ends in space, and he showcased it during the Colts’ preseason opener against the Bills on Saturday. Granson outran a linebacker across the middle for a 12-yard reception from Nick Foles in the second quarter and had another first-down catch that was called back due to a penalty.

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“It’s true, I’m a little pine tree in the forest of redwoods,” Granson said during Saturday’s broadcast. “Definitely with those guys, they bring a lot of size, they’re really good, they’re really smart. Jelani and Andrew, they’re really good guys, but I just gotta know my role and my niche — pass catching and getting open.”

He appeared in all 17 games last season but had just 11 catches for 106 yards. That could change drastically this year with former league MVP Matt Ryan, who ranks eighth all time in passing yards, taking over as starting quarterback.

Colts coach Frank Reich praised Granson for the way he “attacked the offseason,” and Granson said he’s been dreaming of his first NFL touchdown. When it comes, his stepdad thinks it’ll be validation for all of the people who called them crazy for training before and after school, long before Kylen made it to the NFL.

“Believe it not, there’s still a lot of people out there who question whether he belongs there, whether he’s good enough to be there,” David said. “Every day, all along this journey, ‘Do y’all really think he’s gonna get drafted?’ Then he gets drafted. ‘Is he really gonna make the team?’ So then he makes the team. And then it’s, ‘Is he really gonna play? Do you think he’s good enough?’

“He’s always been good enough. He’s always belonged.’

Heather struggled to keep her emotions in check as she explained the significance of David’s belief in their son because she knows it goes beyond football. She’s witnessed it, regardless of how “unconventional” it may be.

“Being a young man, being a mixed young man and trying to find your place in the world like, ‘Where do I fit? Where do I belong?’ It can be hard,” Heather said. “And then when David came along and we got married and we became a family, I think (Kylen) finally figured out, ‘OK, this is where I belong.’

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“I don’t know that we verbalize that kind of stuff at home, but it just means the world to me to know that he’s good and he belongs … because it is hard for him at times, and there’s times when people will say things to him that are hurtful. ‘You’re not really this. You’re not really that. You don’t have this. You don’t have that.’ But really, you’re just you, and with us you’ll always belong.”

Kylen, who was born in DeMotte, Indiana, considers it a dream come true to play for the Colts. He gets excited each time a family member sends him a photo of himself on TV — with the Granson name written on the back of his No. 83 jersey — and vowed to never take it for granted.

Those are the people, especially his parents, that this is all for.

“I’m just pushing myself to that next level,” Granson said. “I had a lot of opportunities that I could’ve taken advantage of last year that I feel like I didn’t take to the fullest extent. And now we got one of the best quarterbacks in the league here and we got the best offensive line. We got a damn good running back, who I think is the best, and we got dynamic playmakers on defense.

“I just want to be a cog in that wheel that takes us to the championship, and I want to have my little piece and my name mentioned so I can tell my family and my kids when I’m older, ‘Hey, I know what it’s like to be at the top. I’ve been there.'”

(Top photo: Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

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