Paye's Journey: From Elephants to Wolverines to Colts

First-round pick in NFL Draft has come a long way from Liberia to Ann Arbor to Indianapolis, and credits Mom for success

We hope you enjoy this story on Kwity Paye that I wrote for MGoBlue.com. It provides a look at how he came from Africa to become a sought-after football talent…

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Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye, wearing a dashiki from his homeland of Liberia, poses in the summer of 2018 with his mother, Agnes Paye.

Paye Gains Strength to Excel from Mom and Her Special Gift

10/22/2019 12:09:00 PM

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Kwity Paye wears a gift his mother brought home from Monrovia, Liberia, around his neck at all times. The University of Michigan defensive end summons strength from the hard plastic elephant figurine attached to a thin twine necklace.

"Wearing it is like me bringing her onto the field in every game," Paye told MGoBlue.com. "She goes to Liberia twice a year and brought it back for me, and said, 'I want you to have this.' I put it on and I haven't taken it off since she's given it to me in January. So, I have like a new sense of strength. I feel like I have my mom and my family behind me.

"My mom is my greatest strength, for sure. She also gives me the head on my shoulders. I feel like all of the lessons learned in my life have been from her. She has gone through the bulk of the struggling so I don't have to go through the same struggles. Anytime I'm doing something wrong, she gets on me because she knows what mistakes have done in her life."

Paye, wearing the elephant necklace he received from his mother in January.

Paye said he was born in a refugee camp in the Republic of Guinea, "but my family's from Liberia." They moved to Rhode Island, where his mother's uncle lived, when he was about 6 months old so he could grow up in a safe place. More than 200,000 were killed in Liberia's first civil war and a second civil war was breaking out when Agnes Paye moved her sons to America. Boys were being recruited to fight by warlords in a lawless existence that was frightening.

Kwity, given the name of his maternal grandfather, is the second of his mother's four sons. His oldest brother, Komotay Koffie, is a cornerback at New Mexico State. Kwity said his father, Leroy George, was not able to come to the U.S., but they remain in contact.

Liberia might be on the other side of the world, but Kwity feels a connection to that country and his family through that elephant around his neck.

Then Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed the National Elephant Action Plan into effect in 2017 for the purpose of protecting forest elephants that have been significantly depleted due to poachers interested in selling their tusks.

Strife can be dented, even conquered, and Kwity Paye is an example of that. He's thriving for the Wolverines on and off the field, earning Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten honorable mention in 2018 despite starting only four games.

This year, he's become a defensive beast.

Paye had a career-high 2.5 sacks along with two quarterback hurries against Iowa, and was instrumental in helping the Wolverines win a knock-down, drag-out, 10-3 game.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh told him during that contest: "They can't block you!"

Paye's response?

"It felt good," he said. "Just from how much hard work you put in week-in and week-out. To be able to go into a game with the two good tackles they had, and play your game and play well."

Paye, listed at 6-foot-4 and 277 pounds, weighed 240 pounds upon arriving at Michigan in 2017.

"He's progressed incredibly well," said Harbaugh. "He had another outstanding game this past game (with a career-high 10 tackles at Penn State). Physically, he's come a long ways. Physically, he's trained himself at a very high level. He's got a great attitude. He does what his coaches train him to do. He trusts that, and always plays at an all-out level."

Paye registered a career-high 3.5 tackles for lost yardage against Rutgers, the most by a defensive lineman in Harbaugh's five seasons. He had seven tackles and a big fumble recovery against Army.

His six-game totals are 31 tackles and team highs of 4.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. Paye missed the Illinois game with an injury, but leads the Big Ten in conference contests with 1.9 tackles for loss per game while ranking third with one sack per game.

"I think those stats are a tribute to how hard I've worked and how far I've come since I've gotten here," said Paye. "When I first came here, I was kind of iffy and didn't think I'd play until my senior year, and thought I'd have to switch to linebacker because the linemen were so big. But I got my feet wet as a freshman and as a sophomore I had a bigger role, got (four) starts under my belt and started this year (as a junior). I'll keep progressing and working hard.

"When I first got here, I was a little faster because I was (over 30 pounds) lighter, but now I'm way more explosive. With the strength coaches we have, we're working hard to make sure I have the get-off I need, and that's been huge for my game."

What are the sensations of bringing down a quarterback or running back behind the line of scrimmage?

"I feel enjoyment," said Paye. "Then there's excitement because usually when I get the sack on third down, it will be a huge play. You get off the field and I feel like I was able to do my job for my brothers. That's huge for me."

So much hard work goes into each big play.

"Film study is huge in watching how the offensive lineman does his set," said Paye. "Practice is huge because our scout O-line does a great job of watching the other team's film and doing the exact same sets and the exact same blocking of other teams, and I feel like our scout team comes up huge there.

"And then there's just practicing our craft, making sure we're working on our technique and hand moves. I usually try to do a speed-to-power (move) just to see how strong the O-lineman is and how good he is. And after that, I get into my counter, my two-step counters and rips."

Paye has wreaked havoc along the other defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, who also moves inside to play tackle. Paye pinned the "Salt and Pepper" nickname on them.

"It was a name that my high school coach gave me and a former (teammate)," said Paye. "It was like me and Aidan fit that role again."

Asked to explain the nickname, Paye chuckled and said, "I mean, I'm darker complexion and he's white. You need salt and pepper to eat, so, yeah ..."

Andrew Flint, his fellow defensive end at Warwick (Rhode Island) Bishop Hendricken, plays baseball at Elon (North Carolina) University.

"We talk a lot," said Paye, "and he was like, 'Aww, man, you found another salt.' I said, 'It is what it is.'"

Paye credits former defensive line coach Greg Mattison "for helping me develop my craft," and said new defensive line coach Shaun Nua has helped him grow as a leader while fostering a "brotherhood" among players at the position group.

"Coach Nua's had a huge impact on the D-line," said Paye. "I feel like, for me, he's had a huge impact because he knows I'm one of the older players and that the younger D-linemen look up to me. So, he's constantly pushing me to make decisions for the D-linemen. I feel he wants me to be our leader.

"Our D-line is really close. We do activities off the field. Coach Nua has done a great job of keeping us close, and we've done dinners and activities keeping that good vibe. That just makes you want to play for your teammate even more. We've done trampoline, cookouts and a dinner. Luiji (Vilain) is the best on the trampoline. He can flip."

Michigan pursues highly-athletic linemen, and Paye exemplifies that. He not only ran the anchor leg of Bishop Hendricken's state champion 4X100 relay team, but was the state champ with a 21-foot, 5-inch long jump and placed in the state meet in the shot put. Those are future decathlete accomplishments, but Paye said performing that athletic endurance test did not interest him. He simply loved sprinting and the sensation "of flying through the air" after hitting his long jump takeoff board.

Paye said track and soccer were the first sports he pursued "because those were my mom's sports." Mom was a sprinter.

Then one day Kwity and Komotay happened by something that sparked curiosity.

"Me and my brother went outside to play and nobody was there," said Paye. "We wondered where they were at, and then we saw them coming home carrying shoulder pads. We said, 'Where are you guys coming from?' They said, 'We had football practice.' The very next day, me and my brother went to practice to check it out, and we came back and told Mom, 'We want to play football.'"

They signed up for the West Elmwood Intruders in the Providence Pop Warner league, and that was the beginning of a journey that took both to Division I college football.

Paye was initially placed at the center position, but said he "purposely messed up snaps" to get a new position. They put him at halfback "and I was scoring all the touchdowns." He continued playing tailback and was a two-way player as a high school freshman, also starting at safety. Defensive end became his spot as a sophomore, and coaches eventually returned him to the offensive backfield as well.

Kwity has pounded weights, worked diligently on technique, and become a disruptive force on the D-line. The game has taken him far, and can take him even further. His mother's decision to take him to America drastically altered his life's path, and he loves her deeply for that and all she's done for him.

When he looks down at that elephant hanging from his neck, the power of it all fills his heart and soul. Kwity Paye is ready for any challenge.