FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Chris Hogan is bracing for what will be the 10 craziest days of his life.

The New England Patriots' newest darling will be a megastar at Super Bowl LI, where his rise from anonymous lacrosse player to NFL postseason hero will resonate with media from across the country.

"It's fun to be part of this, seeing everyone here -- the media," Hogan said Thursday, gazing at a swarm of reporters and cameras in front of his locker. "It's a neat experience for me, but I think I do a pretty good job of not letting things distract me from what I want to do and what I want to accomplish as a football player. This is a dream come true, playing in the Super Bowl, so there's nothing that will distract me from putting in the work."

Chris Hogan's career took a turn into the spotlight in the Patriots' AFC Championship Game win over the Steelers. EPA/CJ GUNTHER EPA/JOHN CETRINO

The wide receiver isn't the type to lose focus. If he were, he wouldn't have made it to this point.

Five years ago, he was just another Tom, Dick and Harry on the NFL scrap heap. Now, he's catching touchdowns from the most famous Tom (Brady) in the sport.

Hogan is a Jersey kid who played three years of lacrosse at Penn State and one year of football at Monmouth (only 12 receptions). He was cut by three NFL teams in a span of 14 months. He finally stuck with the Buffalo Bills, catching the eye of a certain head coach in the division. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was so smitten with Hogan that he gave him a three-year, $12 million contract last offseason as a restricted free agent, despite a modest résumé.

"It's been a long road," Hogan said. "I've been cut, I've been all over the place, but my mentality has never changed."

His life changed Sunday night in the AFC Championship Game. He caught nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his agent's phone started blowing up after the second score. By Thursday, his agent, Art Weiss, had received 200 media requests, not to mention endorsement offers.

"This has been a tsunami of activity," said Weiss, who was in the stands at Gillette Stadium for Hogan's "Hello, America" moment.

Weiss has known Hogan since the receiver's days at Ramapo High School in northern New Jersey. In fact, Weiss' son, Matt, was one of Hogan's quarterbacks. Weiss followed Hogan's career closely, through the lacrosse-to-football transition, and was convinced he was a future NFL player. Weiss has an eye for Cinderella stories; he represented former New York Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet, an undrafted player who rose to cult-hero status with fans.

"It's incredibly gratifying because there was never a doubt in my mind that Chris could play," Weiss said.

In 2011 -- after Hogan's senior year, and his only football season -- he received a modest $17,500 signing bonus from the San Francisco 49ers. They cut him.

He signed with his hometown New York Giants later in 2011. They cut him.

He signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2012. They cut him even after team officials, miked up for HBO's "Hard Knocks" series, gushed about him in personnel meetings.

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Hogan admitted there were times when he wondered if he'd make it, but he never lost hope.

"As a football player, as an athlete, as a competitor, that dream of playing the Super Bowl ... I was never going to lose that," he said. "It's been a long journey. I've had a lot of bumps in the road, but I kept my head down and kept working. ... This whole year has been amazing. I couldn't have written it up any better."

Now he can expect to be one of the media darlings at the Super Bowl. He knows the lacrosse questions are coming. He joked that he will have a prepared answer on a notecard and will tape it to his chest.

As far as New England fans are concerned, it'll go right above the "S."