- The Indianapolis Colts drafted Kwity Paye in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday.
- After Paye was selected, he was asked what will change now that he's in the NFL.
- Paye responded by saying his mom is now retired and won't have to work anymore.
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The NFL Draft is often a moment for athletes to recognize the life-changing wealth coming their way, and sometimes it can be emotional to process.
The first round of the 2021 draft on Thursday night was no exception, especially for Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye, who was selected 21st overall by the Indianapolis Colts.
Paye's drafting meant that his mom Agnes would never have to work another day in her life.
"She's done working, she's retired," Paye said.
His statement was met with an emotional roar of cheers from his surrounding family members at the draft party in his home in Rhode Island.
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For Paye, born in a refugee camp after his family fled Liberia, the moment signified fulfillment of a promise he made to his mother at 12 years old. At that time, he was growing up at the Lockwoode Projects in Providence, Rhode Island, while his mother, who had already escaped multiple civil wars in her life, worked multiple jobs.
Their family already had food, rent, and other conventional bills to worry about. Still, Paye's desire to pursue a football career resulted in another major expense for his mother to take on.
At a young age, Paye met former NFL and Boston College safety Will Blackmon, who also came from Rhode Island. Blackmon influenced Paye to follow a similar path to the pros, which included a high school career at Bishop Hendrickson, a private Catholic school with the most prestigious football program in the state.
"The school tuition was like $10,000," Paye's mother said in NFL Network mini-documentary. "I'm making $14 per hour, I got rent to pay, I got other kids"
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Paye literally got on his knees and begged his mother to pay for the tuition so he could play football at Bishop Hendrickson. As part of his pleading, Paye also promised his mother that if she made the investment, he would work hard enough as a football player to earn a college scholarship.
Paye's mother went from working 14 hours a day to nearly 24 to pay the tuition bill, and she didn't even get enough free time to see her son play. Paye felt the desire to match his mother's effort to ensure the investment paid off.
Paye's freshman football coach Josh Manning took particular notice of Paye's drive to fulfill that promise as soon as he showed up to Hendrickson.
"As a ninth grader, no one has goals, you're just trying to do whatever's fun," Manning said. "But he said 'coach, I'm going to get out of here,' and that drove him every day. Every day he came to this building, he knew that he was going to fulfill that promise to her."
Paye's drive pushed him to become one of the top football recruits in the country, earning Under Armor All-American honors, and he was even named Rhode Island's Gatorade Football Player of the Year.
Paye then committed to play at Michigan for head coach Jim Harbaugh, and on national signing day in 2016, he made sure to give his mom a special shoutout and make sure everyone watching knew about the promise he was working to fulfill.
"I do this all for her so that one day she'll never have to lift a finger again," Paye said at the podium.
Paye fulfilled the latter half of his promise in his four-year career at Michigan, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and 2020.
Now, as the 21st pick in the draft, Paye is projected to get a four-year contract estimated to be worth a total of $13.66 million, with a signing bonus of $7.33 million, which should allow him to pay back his tuition and then some to his mother and ensure she lives the rest of her life comfortably.