The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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24 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2019 though we didn't live a perfect life, growing up poor — my mom said this is a lot better than you were going to experience in Africa. "In Africa, you didn't have the op- portunity to go to school. You didn't have the opportunity to just go and play, just go outside. They were really hunting members of our tribe down. Being a kid here is much better than being a kid in Liberia, because of all the hardships, all the stress you'd have to go through." A NEW LIFE Agnes Paye and her children arrived in the United States with almost no possessions. Paye's great uncle pro- vided shelter, but new challenges awaited — just not the deadly variety. "He brought us into the house," Paye said. "We lived with him for some time. She had left everything be- hind. We came to this country with nothing in our pockets — not a dollar." So his mother scrambled to earn a GED, taking her kids to classes and having them wait outside in the hall- ways when they were old enough. "She worked all kinds of jobs — fast food and more," Paye recalled. "She's a CNA [Certified Nursing Assistant] now. She was working toward that field and trying to get money any way she could, selling food. "My childhood was pretty happy. All the toys we got for Christmas — my mom really busted her butt to make sure that we had a better child- hood than she had." Her sons always understood the opportunity they'd been given. Their mother made certain of it. "I didn't have to worry about any- thing growing up, except coloring, go- ing to school, soccer, doing the stuff I wanted to do," Paye noted. "If I was a kid in Liberia … my mom had to work [growing up]. She had to cook for the family, she had to clean, she had to babysit, she had to try and make money, all at a young age." As Komotay and Kwity grew, they took a natural interest in athlet- ics. Their gifts didn't find direction, though, until they were roughly 10 and 8, respectively. They were playing outside when they saw several peers getting dropped off where they were, holding what appeared to be an odd assortment of battle gear. Komotay and Kwity inquired about where the boys had been and were told they'd come from football prac- tice. Intrigued, Agnes Paye's sons went and checked it out the following day, seeing American football played out for the first time. The two were more than interested. They were hooked. At the same time, they had to break through a wall tougher than the ones they'd see on any football field. "I was about 8, and that day, we went straight to our mom and said, 'We have to play football,'" Paye re- called. "At first she didn't want us to play football. She wanted us to run track and do all the non-violent sports. We were like, 'Nah, we have to play football.' We just fell in love with the sport." Once she relented, her youngest son discovered he didn't love all aspects of the sport. He wanted to run with the ball and his coaches harbored other ideas, initially. They wanted him to pass it back- wards, between his legs, to someone Hugely successful football players from the Northeast have always been the exception rather than the rule. Run- ning backs Jamie Morris (Ayer, Mass.) and Mike Hart (Syracuse, N.Y.) became record-setting running backs for the Wolverines in the 1980s and mid-2000s, respectively. Michigan, Ohio and various prep foot- ball hotbed states around the nation still supply the vast majority of Wolverines. But the presence of defensive coordina- tor Don Brown has helped add a north- eastern flavor to U-M's lineup. Michigan's roster presently features no fewer than 11 members from the states of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Here is our top five at present: 1. Kwity Paye, DE, Jr., Providence, R.I. — Paye has grown into a force at defensive end, one of Michigan's top pass rushers. He'll get some attention by award voters at the end of this year, and even more if he returns for his senior season. 2. Sean McKeon, TE, Sr., Dudley, Mass. — McKeon is a multi-year starter at tight end, having recently returned from injury to bolster Michigan's offen- sive attack. McKeon led the Wolverines in receiving as a sophomore, pulling in 31 passes for 301 yards and three touch- downs. 3. Ben Mason, RB, Jr., Newtown, Conn. — Mason has served as a util- ity tool for the Wolverines, playing on both sides of the football. He's done his most damage at running back, where he earned Michigan's "Toughest Player" award as a freshman and scored seven touchdowns in his sophomore season. 4. Tarik Black, WR, R-So., Hamden, Conn. — Many expected Black to be at the top of this list by now. Foot injuries wiped out nearly his first two seasons, and he's still looking to find his footing as a top target. He was fourth on the team in catches heading into the Michigan State game, with 20 grabs, which have gained 257 yards and a touchdown. 5. Mike Sainristil, WR, Fr., Everett, Mass. — Sainristil proved the talk of spring football, the rookie's quickness and speed turning heads on both sides of the line of scrimmage. He caught four passes for 81 yards and a score in U-M's first nine games, and he's just getting started. — John Borton Senior tight end Sean McKeon had hauled in seven passes for 125 yards and two touch- downs through nine games to give him 54 receptions for 558 yards and six scores dur- ing his U-M career. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Michigan's Boost From The Northeast