David Blais
Asst. Sports Director
One of the top prospects in this year’s installment of the NFL Draft comes from our small state. The player is 22-year-old Kwity Paye. Paye was born on November 18, 1998 in a refugee camp in Gunia following the First Liberian Civil War. His mother believed the family should immigrate to the United States to provide better opportunities compared to the war-torn country that was present.
In April of 1999, the Paye family immigrated to the state of Rhode Island. The family settled in Warwick, Rhode Island where Kwity attended Bishop Hendricken High School. His time in high school was nothing less than dominant. Kwity won the 2016 “Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year.” Being heavily recruited by multiple elite collegiate programs, Kwity Paye decided he wanted to play for Boston College. Paye decided to change his mind soon after his initial decision to play for Boston and instead decided to commit to the University of Michigan.
The newly freshman Paye would be paired up with former “NFL Coach of the Year” Jim Harbaugh who was changing the culture for the football program as head coach. Paye continued to be dominant in college for the past four years playing for the Wolverines. Not getting many snaps as a freshman, his sophomore year is where he would start to show his true talents. Starting four of 13 games in his second season in 2018, he would garner 27 tackles and two sacks. Paye’s Junior season saw him starting 11 of 12 games and racking up 50 tackles and 6.5 sacks. During this year, he was selected to his first “Second Team All-Big Ten.” Paye made the conscious decision to return to Michigan for his senior year instead of committing to the 2020 NFL Draft. Last year, he got 16 tackles and two sacks along with making the “Second Team All-Big Ten” again.
The future NFL player has already met with scouts from the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings hoping to become a defensive powerhouse for either program. Currently on the official ESPN NFL 2021 Mock Draft, he is predicted to be taken by Minnesota Vikings with the 14th overall pick.
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