Michigan DE Kwity Paye still eager to play senior season
Even with the coronavirus pandemic, Kwity Paye still hopes to take the field in 2020. 
By Ashley Bastock / The Blade
Tue, 11 Aug 2020 02:05:27 GMT
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ANN ARBOR — Last week when the Big Ten released its schedule and medical protocols for the 2020 season, Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye told The Blade he thought it provided a “boost” to players.
But he also added that, while he thought the Big Ten was doing a good job, it was especially important for conferences across the country to listen to input from players concerning return plans — especially after unity groups formed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. In the Big Ten, a group of players submitted their own proposal published in full on the Players’ Tribune, and used the hashtag #BigTenUnited.
"It's very important,” Paye said. “Because we're the ones who make them their money. If people are making you your money, I feel like you should try and check up on them and make sure they are safe and life is going at least decent. I feel like it would be very selfish of them if they are just making decisions for themselves and for the best interests of themselves, and we're the ones that are in here and doing all of the work.”
Less than a week later, Paye and other players are still stressing the need to get input from players, but this time under less optimistic circumstances.
On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference became the first FBS conference to cancel its season with the possibility of playing in the spring still open. Sunday, Power Five conference commissioners met to discuss growing concerns over playing during the pandemic. The Big Ten’s university presidents and chancellors also met, but the results of that meeting have led to conflicting reports.
On Monday, Dan Patrick said on his radio show that the Big Ten presidents and chancellors voted 12-2 against a season. But later in the afternoon, numerous reports, including from The Athletic and Yahoo Sports, stated that no vote has yet taken place. No official announcement on the fate of the season has come from the conference as of Monday evening.
Players and coaches have spoken up on social media in favor of a season, including Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who released a one-page statement, as well as Paye’s fellow starting defensive end Aiden Hutchinson, and defensive back Hunter Reynolds, who helped organize Big Ten United and participated in a Zoom call between players in the Power Five conferences on Sunday night. The result has been players using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay across social media.
Again, Paye says, it’s important to consider the players’ voices in all of this with the fate of the season hanging in the balance.
“We're the ones playing,” Paye said on Monday night, reiterating his point. “They should have our best interest as to what we feel we want to do or what we feel is safe.
“We just want to be heard. The thing about that, we don't want the season to be canceled. We want to play, we just want to make sure schools are doing everything in their power to make sure we stay safe while we play.”
Michigan football did still practice on Monday. It’s also noteworthy that Paye himself says he wants to play, considering he would most likely be drafted even if he sat in 2020.
Paye opted to come back for his senior year after recording 50 tackles in 2019 (a team-leading 12½ for loss) and leading the defensive line with 6½ sacks. Last month, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., listed him as the No. 5 defensive end in the 2021 draft class. Paye was also named to the Bednarik Award watch list, an honor presented annually to the top defensive player in college football, and to the Nagurski Trophy watch list, and award given by the Football Writers Association of America to the top defensive player in the nation.
“Football gave me an opportunity to come to college on a full-ride so this is what I want to do,” Paye said. “I came back to play one last season with the boys, and our defense this year is going to be unbelievable. So if we don't get a chance to showcase that, honestly I will just go through life thinking,’What if I got to play my senior year with that defense? That would have been unbelievable.’ So, I did come back for a reason. I did come back to play my senior year with the guys, and hopefully do something special with these boys and do something we haven't done in awhile and get ourselves a ring.”
And just because Paye is likely going to be drafted regardless of what happens in 2020 also doesn’t mean he doesn’t have improvements he hopes he gets a chance to showcase.
“I noticed how some scouts are saying I need to be better with my hands, I have to have a better 1-2 move,” Paye said. “So this offseason me and Luiji [Vilain] really worked on that, our first move and our second move. I also changed my stance up a little bit to give me that edge, because last year my stance was more of a run-defending stance where my butt was a little lower. So, I brought my butt up a little bit, extended my stance to really give myself the best chance to get off the ball and rush the passer. I'm just excited to just show all of the stuff that I've improved on.”
Paye’s rise in college has been somewhat unexpected. Coming out of Bishop Hendricken High School in Rhode Island, Paye was a 3-star recruit, but one who had a lot of potential. He was also a state track champion for both the long jump and the 4x100 relay, and has kept that same speed while putting on weight throughout his college career.
Recently, in addition to watch lists, Paye was named by the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman as the “freakiest” athlete in college football, considering he had a three-cone drill time of 6.37 seconds, which would have been better than anyone else at the 2020 combine. He’s already drawing plenty of attention from scouts.
“Growing up I could pick up any sport and be good at it,” Paye said. “Just picking up baseball, soccer, or track. It was just putting my mind to it and being good at it. So then when I got to the college level, I only had to focus on one thing and that was just becoming a great defensive end. So when I really honed in and focused on that one position then I was really able to excel and take off.”