Note: The following appears in the Louisville football gameday program.
Upon his arrival at Clemson in 2021, defensive tackle Payton Page weighed a few pounds shy of 400. Despite being able to simply overpower his offensive counterparts in high school due to his size, he knew that losing weight to maintain his athleticism would go a long way in college.
Three years later, he weighs 310 pounds and is a key piece of the Tiger defensive line. Recording his first career start against Georgia this season and starting every game since, Page contributes not only his size, but also his quickness off the snap to an already talented defensive unit.
Page grew up in Greensboro, N.C., where he attended Dudley High School, the alma mater of Clemson football legend and P.A.W. Journey founder Jeff Davis. His size and build allowed him to naturally default to football, where he found great success in the trenches. By his senior year, he held a national top-40 listing by ESPN.com and was a four-star recruit according to all services.
Offered by other top programs, Clemson’s strong family culture is what drew him to the Upstate, as he turned down offers from North Carolina and Tennessee to become a Tiger.
“It was the most family-oriented school I was considering. Everywhere else I visited felt so serious and even sort of depressing, but when I visited Clemson and saw people’s families showing up to watch practice or be at an event, I knew this was the place for me.”
While seeing playing time in all but one game during each of his first two seasons and recording double-digit defensive snaps in every game last season, Page had yet to be named a starter until this season unfolded.
“When I first got here, I had a lot of people in front of me…Bryan Bresee, Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro to name a few. Back then, I was more upset having to sit and wait my turn. But now that I’m older, I actually see that I needed to do that. I needed to sit behind those guys to learn from them and ask questions, so that I could be ready when my time came.”
Sitting and waiting his turn has undoubtedly paid off, as he can now call himself a starter for one of the most consistently premier defensive lines in the country. Noting the recognition he has gained and the legacy he can leave, Page is determined to write his own chapter in an already storied position room.
“You walk with a different kind of swagger when it’s your time. Now it’s my time, and I walk with that different kind…