PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Total tackles:	146
Sacks:	21.0
Forced fumbles:	3
Fumble recoveries:	5
Pass deflections:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Kwity Paye
	Paye with the Michigan Wolverines in 2018
No. 51 – Indianapolis Colts
Position:	Defensive end
Personal information
Born:	19 November 1998 (age 26); Guinea
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	265 lb (120 kg)
Career information
High school:	Bishop Hendricken (Warwick, Rhode Island)
College:	Michigan (2017–2020)
NFL draft:	2021 / round: 1 / pick: 21
Career history
	Indianapolis Colts (2021–present);
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
	PFWA All-Rookie Team (2021); 2× Second-team All-Big Ten (2019, 2020);
Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2024
Total tackles:
Total tackles:	146
Sacks:	21.0
Forced fumbles:	3
Fumble recoveries:	5
Pass deflections:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Kwity Paye (/ˈkwɪti ˈpeɪ/ KWIT-ee PAY; born 19 November 1998) is a Liberian professional American football defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Guinea as a refugee of the First Liberian Civil War and emigrated to the United States as a baby. Paye played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Colts in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Early life

Paye was born on 19 November 1998, to a Liberian Krahn mother in a refugee camp in Guinea in the aftermath of the First Liberian Civil War.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] His mother named him Kwity after his maternal grandfather, who was killed during the war, and brought him and his brother Komotay to Providence, Rhode Island in the United States when he was six months old.^[5]^[6]

He and his brother found an affinity for American football growing up there, with Kwity later attending Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island.^[5] Playing running back and defensive end, he was named Rhode Island's Gatorade Football Player of the Year as a senior in 2016.^[7] Paye originally committed to play college football at Boston College, but later switched to the University of Michigan.^[5]^[8]

College career

As a true freshman at Michigan in 2017, Paye played in nine games and had five tackles and one sack. As a sophomore in 2018, he started four games and recorded 29 tackles and two sacks.^[9] As a junior he started 11 games and finished with 50 tackles and 6.5 sacks.^[10] Paye returned to Michigan for his senior year in 2020 but only played in four games due to the season being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

College statistics

Year	GP	Tackles					Fumbles
Year	GP	Solo	Ast	Total	Loss	Sack	FR	FF
2017	2	0	4	4	1.5	1	0	0
2018	10	21	6	27	5.5	2	0	1
2019	12	26	24	50	12.5	6.5	0	0
2020	4	12	4	16	4	2	0	0
Career	28	59	38	97	23.5	11.5	0	1

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1.89 m)	261 lb (118 kg)	33 in (0.84 m)	10 in (0.25 m)	4.52 s	1.54 s	2.61 s	6.37 s	35+1⁄2 in (0.90 m)	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)	36 reps
All values from Michigan's Pro Day^[12]

Paye was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round (21st overall) of the 2021 NFL draft.^[13] He signed his four-year rookie contract on 6 May 2021.^[14] In his rookie season, he finished with four sacks, 32 total tackles (16 solo), one pass defended, and one forced fumble.^[15] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.^[16]