Kwity Paye: 'I Was Blessed To Be Picked By The Colts'

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INDIANAPOLIS — Throw on Kwity Paye's college film, and his talent alone screamed first-round pick. The Michigan product's speed, burst, tenacity and effort off the edge is a fit in any defensive scheme in the NFL.


But the Indianapolis Colts know talent is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to filling out their draft board from year to year. What's the prospect's story off the field? What is their football character? When the going gets tough — and every rookie has tough moments — how will they respond?


As it turned out, Paye checked those boxes perhaps better than any other prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft class.


When the Colts made the decision to select the defensive end with their first-round (21st-overall) pick late Thursday night, they surfaced the undisputed feel-good story of the entire draft: a player in Paye whose mother, Agnes, escaped sure death in war-torn Liberia at 12 years old, gave birth to Kwity — who was named after his grandfather, who unfortunately wasn't able to escape those horrific conditions in Liberia — in New Guinea and then emigrated to the United States when he was just 6 months old.


The Paye family scrapped and clawed while on welfare in a rough neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, as Agnes at times worked three jobs at a time to take care of Kwity and his older brother, Komotay Koffie.


Kwity overcame those challenges to flourish on the field once he hit high school, turning into the state's best player and earning a scholarship to Michigan, where he continued his ascent.


And on Thursday night, after getting that life-changing call from Colts general manager Chris Ballard, Paye turned around and was embraced by his family — and in particular by his mother, Agnes.


"She's done working," Kwity said of his mother just after being selected. "She's retired."


"(This) means everything," Kwity later told Indianapolis-area media members. "That was my goal my whole life growing up, just seeing how hard she worked. That's what made me work harder, so being able to tell her she's done means a lot."