How Colts DE Defied Odds to Land NFL Career: ‘Thanks to God’

Published: January 17, 2025

How Colts DE Defied Odds to Land NFL Career: ‘Thanks to God’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye’s journey to the NFL only happened because of God and his mother’s love.

Born in a refugee camp in Guinea after his mother, Agnes, fled Liberia due to civil war, Paye and his mother moved to Providence, Rhode Island, when he was six months old, hoping for a better future.

As he grew, his skill and love for football developed, and he asked his mom to let him attend Bishop Hendricken Private High School in Warwick, Rhode Island.

“Please, please! I have to go. This is the only way,” Paye asked his mother.

The tuition was $10,000, meaning Agnes needed to work three jobs to support her son’s dream.

“Looking back, she had a lot of trust in a 12-year-old kid,” Paye reflected in an interview with NBC Sports for the series BY WAY OF AFRICA. “At the school, I was around a lot of privileged kids whose parents had a lot of money. I saw how some of them handled it, and I just knew I couldn’t waste this opportunity.”

He certainly took advantage of the opportunity and just finished his fourth season in the NFL.

“With football, I was so gifted [athletically] that I knew I could take it somewhere,” Paye explained. “Even when I went to college, I never thought I was going to go the NFL because it was so far-fetched. They always show the numbers — how many high school football players there are in the country, then they show the number of DI athletes, how many people actually get drafted, and then how many actually stay in the league.”

But even with his talents, Paye knows nothing in his life would have been possible without God.

“I heard a sermon not too long ago where the preacher was saying that nothing just happens,” he said. “I feel like God was watching throughout the whole journey because if you look at the odds, I was born in a refugee camp during a very gruesome civil war. I ended up coming to Rhode Island, the smallest state, and then being able to come up — the odds of being a D1 athlete from Rhode Island and being a first-round pick — are slim to none.”

“So, for me to get here, it’s all God. All praise to God and what He’s been able to do in my life. I’m so grateful that I was raised in the Providence Church of Christ,” he continued. “My aunt texts me Bible verses every morning to make sure I stay grounded and always prayed up. So I give thanks to God because, without him, nothing would be possible.”

Paye is proud of his Liberian heritage, often honoring his country on the field. In November, he sported a Liberian flag headband under his helmet and wore a shirt honoring the country.