Damon Payne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Payne with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2024 | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle |
| Roster status | Active |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 15, 2003 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 314 lb (142 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Belleville (Belleville, Michigan) |
| College | |
| Career history | |
| Kansas City Chiefs (2026–present) | |
| Stats at ESPN | |
Damon Payne Jr. (born April 15, 2003) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines. Payne was signed by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2026.
Payne was born on April 15, 2003,[1] and attended Belleville High School in Belleville, Michigan. He played prep football and was ranked as the No. 39 overall player in the country in the 2021 college football recruiting class by 247Sports, holding offers from Michigan, Ohio State, LSU, Alabama, Oregon, USC, Penn State and Oklahoma. Payne committed to play college football for Nick Saban and Alabama in July 2020.[2]
College career
Alabama
In 2021, Payne enrolled at the University of Alabama and used his freshman year to redshirt. From 2022 to 2024, he had 30 tackles with a half sack. Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach in December 2024 said: "Payne's done a really good job; he's improved a lot. He played some last year, is playing a good amount this year and we look forward to watching him play even more. He works his butt off. He's really good kid, mature kid, who helps the young guys out."[3] After his senior season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Michigan
In December 2024, Payne transferred to his home-state to attend the University of Michigan, playing for the Wolverines in his final season.[4][5]
College statistics
| Season | Games | Tackles | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GP | Solo | Ast | Comb | TFL | Sacks | |||||||||||
| Alabama | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| 2023 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0.5 | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0.5 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| Michigan | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| Career | 43 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 3 | 0.5 | |||||||||||
