A Las Vegas Web site has Gijon Robinson's odds on scoring the last touchdown of Super Bowl XLIV at 20 to 1.

That bet looks like a lock in comparison to the odds he faced getting to Miami.

The Colts’ second-year tight end came undrafted from a Division II school that never put a player in an NFL uniform in the program’s 37 years and a conference that’s sent just 12 players to the Super Bowl.

But should Indianapolis open with its running set like it did against the Jets in the AFC Championship game, Robinson will do what Hall-of-Famers Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Warren Moon, countless other Canton inductees and first-round draft picks — as well as thousands of players from the current 10 MIAA programs — never had the chance to do: start in a Super Bowl.

“I can’t wait,” Robinson said. “I have a chance to play in a Super Bowl from a Division II school. I take a lot of pride in that. It’s a lot of work to get noticed from Division II.”

Robinson joins New Orleans’ Jahri Evans (Bloomsburg) and Paul Spicer (Saginaw Valley State) as the only Division II players set to make their Super Bowl debuts today.

Missouri Western coach Jerry Partridge thought Robinson’s desire to embrace the unpopular part of his position, blocking, gave him an indication that he could have a chance to play on this stage.

“Six, seven years ago, I’m sitting at the podium talking about getting Gijon Robinson and what a big steal we thought that kid was,” he said. “To beat Illinois and Northwest (Missouri State) on him and get him to come play for us and to have him turn into a Super Bowl participant is a very special thing.

“I knew he had a shot because his work ethic was so great. Guys that like blocking and do it well are hard to find.”

The 6-foot-1, 255-pound Robinson, who lines up on the opposite side of All-Pro tight end Dallas Clark in the Colts’ double-tight end sets, didn’t spend nights dreaming about playing in this game. He knows he’s a role player that must concentrate on his weekly job and not on career goals.

“I didn’t think months ago how it would feel being in a Super Bowl. I didn’t look at it like that,” Robinson said. “I just focused on what I had to do each game.”

His usual task: block defensive ends. Robinson started at H-back (a combination of tight end and fullback) in 10 games this season, catching just nine passes for 62 yards. He said the Griffons used more slide protection schemes, but as a Colt it’s usually a one-on-one matchup with the team’s left defensive end.

“He blocks as well as anybody you’re gonna watch,” Partridge said. “I’ve watched a couple times where he’s taken NFL studs and moved them around.”

In college, Robinson used patience over aggressiveness to get the best of linebackers and ends.

“Attack isn’t his style necessarily,” Partridge said. “He’s never been (a) just-fire-off-and-mash-you (guy), he’d always wait and use his strengths. He would just take people and steer them like a car. He’d grab them by the shoulder pads and eventually drive them down the football field. Several times he’d have kids 30, 35 yards down the field finishing blocks.”

When Robinson’s on the field today, he will mostly match up against Saints defensive end Will Smith, a six-year veteran that registered 13 sacks (fifth in the NFL) this year.

“He’s a big guy; he likes to bull rush,” Robinson said. “I’m gonna have to stay low and get a solid base to stop it.”

He caught 83 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns at Western, but doesn’t get to release on many routes as a pro.

When the plays don’t call for him to pass protect, however, it’s a far more complicated route tree in an offense helmed by perhaps the most audible-happy quarterback in league history.

“He knows everything that’s going on in the NFL,” Robinson said of all-pro quarterback Peyton Manning. “Just being able to understand what he’s thinking is really exciting.”

That understanding took time.

In his early huddles and trips to the line of scrimmage with Manning, Robinson needed a translator.

“I thought he was speaking Chinese to me,” he said. “I remember getting in huddle, thinking this sounds like another language.”

In addition to learning from arguably the era’s best quarterback and one of the top pass-catching tight ends, the 25-year-old Robinson is also on a team with rare coaching continuity.

Most successful franchises have to deal with inferior teams luring away their assistants. Indianapolis hasn’t had that problem. Robinson’s primary coaches - tight ends coach Ricky Thomas, offensive line coach Howard Mudd and offensive coordinator Tom Moore – have all been with the team for at least eight seasons.

Being in the same offensive system for three years – Robinson was on the Colts’ practice squad in 2007 then signed a three-year contract before the 2008 season – has helped his progression and allowed him to refine his skills rather than getting bogged down learning new formations and schemes.

“You know what to expect,” he said. “You understand what defense they’re trying to do and understand the purpose of plays. Being in the same system definitely helps you pick up a sixth sense. Just being able to communicate with Peyton, developing that chemistry, helps out a lot.”

Partridge didn’t think Robinson looked himself in the two playoff games as he’s been battling patellar tendonitis since November. Robinson said he is healthy heading into today’s action, however.

His family – both parents, two brothers and two sisters – will make up his cheering section today. Partridge hopes they’ll get to hear his name called.

“I’m very excited for him,” he said. “I don’t want to be selfish about it. It’s a young man that’s getting to live that dream to be out there in a Super Bowl. I’m hoping he gets announced; that’s the selfish part of it. If they do announce their 12-personnel starting lineup, then Missouri Western State University will be heard by the world. You can’t get that kind of advertising in a whole lot of places.”

Sports reporter Sam Robinson can be reached at sam.robinson@npgco.com