| Michigan Wolverines–No. 44 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle |
| Class | Senior |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | April 15, 2003 |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 313 lb (142 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| High school | Belleville (Belleville, Michigan) |
Damon Payne Jr. (born April 15, 2003) [1] is an American college football defensive tackle for the Michigan Wolverines. He previously played for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2021 to 2024.
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]
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.
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]
| Season | Games | Tackles | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GP | Solo | Ast | Comb | TFL | Sacks | |||||||||||
| Alabama | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| 2023 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0.5 | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| Michigan | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | |||||||||||||||||