As the clock ticks louder as the arrival of the 2021 NFL Draft later this month inches closer, many with a lust for the sport are busy bustling away creating mock drafts with endless sheets of numbers and statistics. For many, this core of future young talent is just numbers on a page, but for the few where it matters, analysing this data needs a careful eye. Everyone’s journey to the draft is unique, whether you’re scouted at high school level or emerge through junior college, everyone shares a different story, but there are few as improbable as Kwity Paye’s quest for NFL glory.
Of course, his destiny in American Football’s heaven must wait until April 29, where he is strongly rumoured to come off the board in the first round. Until then, a short stroll deep down memory lane for Paye unearths a near miraculous expedition to the draft which one could have only fantasised over. Often described as “quiet” and “shy” by his former high school coaches, it is his background that the 22 year old defensive end does not hesitate to discuss. Born to a Liberian mother, Agnes Paye, the events of the first Liberian civil war in the late 1990s forced her to flee west to the neighbouring nation of Sierra Leone, where she gave birth to Paye’s older brother, Komotay Koffie, now a defensive back for New Mexico State.
As the fighting spread to Sierra Leone, more travelling was to be done as Agnes, now with a baby to care for, headed north to Guinea where they settled in at a refugee camp - away from the constant barrage of guns. With little food and no shoes, a slow barefoot walk through forests and bushes to avoid being detected on the main road made life increasingly difficult and painful. Her village had been burned down, and so Agnes took upon the decision to leave. Much of her family did not, and “most” of them would not survive. Living a multitude of days out in the open air with the fear of death ringing around, Agnes had made it to a camp in Guinea.
It was in this refugee camp that Agnes gave birth to Kwity, naming him after her father who had recently died serving in the war they had escaped. Now safe, but with little chance of producing an ideal life for her two sons, Agnes decided that America would be the most suitable option. So, it was decided. At just six months of age, Paye would be swiftly whisked across the Atlantic as the trio would find refuge in the form of Providence, Rhode Island. There would be no turning back. “You come back, you get killed,” explained Agnes. How brave a decision, and how well it has paid off as one looks into this hindsight. There would certainly be no draft for Paye to prepare for, as an anxious, yet romantically exciting call over his future awaits.
Life growing up was not so straightforward for a pair of young African brothers in an American school. They were bullied by their classmates, but that soon changed once it became clear that they were athletically gifted, dominating in various sports as they soon made friends. It was through these friendships that the brothers’ love for football was discovered, as Paye joined the North End 49ers as his path to the NFL was underway. With high school on the horizon, there were two schools which stood out. The first, a fairly conventional institution just down his road. The latter, Hendricken High School, a prestigious Catholic school. With school fees an issue at Hendricken, and with football the only thing on Paye’s mind, he explained:
“If you send me to Hendricken, you won’t have to pay for college.”
This quote would remain embedded within Paye as he’d wake up bright and early, raring for the hour commute to school where he would continue to thrive both athletically and academically. By his senior year, Paye was the highest ranked player in his state. As the interest flooded in from various colleges, there was only one which stood out in the limelight - Michigan State. At his signing ceremony months later, a tearful Paye looked for his mother in the crowd and murmured the words: “Mum, we finally made it.”
As Paye departed Michigan State for his final time, there is much to reflect on a whirlwind start to his life. Far from the conventional, it has been an emotional ride that owes so much to his mother, Agnes, for without her bravery there would be no story as inspiring as this. His constant devotion to his mother illustrates his appreciation to the sacrifices she made, as a long and prosperous career in the NFL hopefully awaits. Although his success at Michigan got him this far, as he led his team in sacks and tackles for loss in 2019, it was Agnes who made it a reality.
And so, with fewer than three weeks to go until the commencement of the draft, the question that remains is who will go for him. Unlike the 2019 NFL Draft, which saw a mammoth 13 defensive lineman drafted in the first round, this draft class does not appear to harvest as many defensive talents. This is unequivocally refreshing news for Paye, one of this year’s top edge defender. At 6-foot-4, and 272 pounds, his agility and speed combine to frightening effect, and so it is rumoured that his name will be taken off the board relatively early.
Not that early, of course, as the infatuation of franchises drafting high up for a quarterback filters the other positions further down the line. The New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings need help in his position and, as one of the most talented rushers in this class alongside Greg Rousseau, he could be selected with either the eleventh or fourteenth overall pick, depending on how they compare the two. Again, of course, this all could change in a heartbeat as trading picks can never be removed from the conversation.
From being born into a life of conflict, the future shines bright on Paye as he embarks on a life in the NFL. A tiring journey which has seen the darkest of days, soon to be replaced by stardom and greatness. His career is one to follow closely, as every time Paye steps out into the colosseums of football, his mother’s presence will make him as brave as his mother was in getting him this far.
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