INDIANAPOLIS––NFL Draft prospect Garrett Chisholm shared a story while attending the NFL Combine on Thursday.

After finishing high school, he played one year at Pikeville College in Kentucky in 2006. Due to extenuating circumstances, he transferred to Trident Tech in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina in 2007, a year spent away from football.

Chisholm transferred once again in 2008 to the University of South Carolina, but didn't play football that year either. He walked on for the Gamecocks in 2009, made the scout team, then went from scout team to starter in the span of about two weeks.

Nice story, right?

It's all entirely true, but that there's another far more engaging story that would melt the heart of even the most stoic listener. It's a story of heartbreak and love lost.

And it's a story that Chisholm has only begun to tell. He declined all but a single interview while at South Carolina.

Gamecocks beat writer Josh Kendall of The State newspaper in South Carolina, who knows as much about USC football as just about anyone thanks to his occupation, was hearing the details of the story for the first time at the Combine.

Chisholm sat with his eyes downcast among a handful of reporters at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. At a time when many draft hopefuls are bubbling about the process of the NFL Combine and all that it entails, it seemed like the last place Chisholm wanted to be is talking to reporters.

Most likely encouraged by his advisors to talk frankly about his family life, Chishold opened up, almost against his will.

Barely above a whisper, Chisholm told about his parents, Garrett and Purcella Chisholm, who jointly ran a janitorial business in Charleston, South Carolina. Father did the labor while mother did the paperwork.

In December of 2009, after his first season playing for the Gamecocks, Purcella's health went into decline. By January of 2010, she succumbed to cancer.

"I continued to push on," said Chisholm, nearly inaudible. "I almost quit the team that month, but [South Carolina offensive line] Coach Elliot talked to me and told me that it was a good situation if I'd stay, and maybe I could help the team and play the season.

"My father was kind of struggling with the company, and I figured I needed to just go home, be a man and own up to more responsibility. But my Auntie... we were blessed my Auntie my came and helped us, my father. That's how that situation happened. And I played my senior season."

Unfortunately, the situation in the Chisholm household didn't improve.

"After my mother passed, [my father] kept on coughing a lot," said Chisholm. "And I made him go to the doctor. He didn't want to. And then we found out he had cancer, and that's when we found out he was sick. And luckily my Auntie helped, tried to help him heal, but it didn't help in the end. It was his time, so he had to go."

That was September of 2010.

He missed South Carolina's third game of the season against Furman to attend his father's funeral.

In a span of eight months, Garrett Chisholm lost both his mother and father to cancer.

The offensive lineman was able to enjoy a brief respite when the Gamecocks were able to win the SEC East for the first time in school history, though the hardships continued.

Following South Carolina's loss to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game, Chisholm tore his ACL and wasn't able to play in his school's bowl game.

And that brings us to the Combine. What follows is a transcript of the questions from The State reporter Josh Kendall and Chisholm's answers on Thursday afternoon:

When you walked on, did you have any expectation you'd become a starter?

Yes, sir.

You did? You thought that was within your capability?

My daddy said, 'When you dream, you gotta dream big. So I had visions to at least play. At least play.'

How much of his voice still rings in your ear?

It rings all the time. He always told me, 'One day I won't be here to tell you all these lessons' and stuff, and he's right. I just hear his voice in everything I do.

What are some of the things?

My decision making... Everything. I just hear his voice all the time. When I wake up. When I... Everything.

Was it a disappointment to end your senior season after the journey you've been through and not being able to play in that bowl game?

No, it was a disappointment that I couldn't help my team that bowl game. I just wanted my team to win. If they would've win, and I didn't get to play, it would have been okay with me. I just wanted them to win the game.

Tell me about what the season meant to you to win the SEC East, get to the conference title game.

I felt like we came up short because we didn't finish… we didn't get the SEC Championship, and that's what we are there for, but we didn't get it. So I feel like we came up short.

Do you see yourself playing in the NFL? A lot of people here don't know who you are and will wonder if you're going to make it. Do you see yourself making it?

Yes, sir. I feel like I can help a team win games, and I'll do everything I can to work hard every day.

How many times did you think, 'I can't take any more. This is enough'?

A lot. They say God won't put too much that you can't bear. So I just try to keep on pushing.

You got to wonder sometimes about how much you can bear, don't you?

Yes, sir. I wonder about it every day.

How much would a good week here make you feel good about the way things are headed?

It would feel real good just so I can showcase my talent against the best athletes in the world to the coaches of the NFL. But I won't be performing, so you just got to take the good with the bad.

Teammate and fellow offensive tackle Jerriel King was also invited to the Combine. He briefly answered some questions about Chisholm:

Do you think what he's gone through will make him stronger?

I think so. I honestly do think so. I wish the best for him… I hope that … I don't know, man. When I think about his situation, it still kind of stuns you because to lose your mom and dad your senior season both in the same year, you really can't speak too much on it, especially as big of a family guy he is. He was close with his mom and loved his dad, and you really can't say much about it.

Was there a support system in place for him at South Carolina?

He was always more of a grown-man type. He didn't need anyone backing him. We all got our family behind us, and we look forward to, we're young men, we're not just out on our own yet. We're a men, and we all need someone to kind of look back on and say, 'This is going on. That is going on' to be able to take in what we're saying and maybe someone can say something back to us. But at the same time, I look at it, and he lost that… all I have to do is be available, man. Like I said, I love him to death. I love to play back side-by-side with him. I hope the best for him, that's my boy.

Because of his ACL tear, Chisholm won't be performing in the physical aspects of the Combine. He's likely a late-round draft choice at best.

No matter when or where Chisholm gets his chance, this is a player every football fan of any allegiance should pull for. He needs to make a roster.

I personally came away feeling this young man's life may depend on it.

Some of the blanks were filled in by Gene Sapakoff's article in the Post and Courier.