Q&A with Ahmad Paige

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Paige, from Sterlington (La.) High School, was one of the most highly touted receivers in the nation before he signed a national letter of intent to play football for Tennessee on Feb. 7.

Paige enjoyed the recognition, but it brought on more media interest about his recruitment. He said the process became tiring, but he understood its importance.

Paige talked about dealing with the attention during his recruitment and developing into a standout receiver in this GVX Q & A.

Q: What was your most memorable moment from an official visit?

A: Probably when I took my first official visit to Georgia. That was the first time I had been to a college football game. It was a night game. They were playing Tennessee. The atmosphere was amazing. It just kind of blew my mind how amped up the guys were and how much fun it is. That was probably my most memorable moment.

Q: Did you have an idea what it would be like before you took your first official visit?

A: I had no idea whatsoever. After the first two or so you kind of figure it out. Going into the first one you have no idea what’s going to happen. Your eyes open and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It was a lot of fun. Just the overall atmosphere of a college football game at night is amazing. If anybody gets the experience, golly, you’re truly blessed.

Q: What was your least favorite part of the recruiting process?

A: Probably just all the phone calls and things like that. At first it’s cool because you think you’re popular. After a while, its like ugh, I don’t want to do this anymore. I just want to get it over with and have people stop calling me and live your life. Towards the end of it you don’t really get to enjoy your senior year. You’re going on trips and taking phone calls. But it was a fun process.

Q: Do you remember when it changed from being a fun process to being a hassle?

A: I think after I got back from the (U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 6). The phone calls were alright then, and then when you got to that game there was so much media. It was media every day, all the time. I was glad I was kind of leaving so I didn’t have to do the media anymore. Then you got home and it blossomed up even more. After that you’re taking visits so that made it even worse. People have to call you and ask you how your trips were and things like that. But it was cool though.

Q: A lot of recruits reach a point where they stop answering or returning phone calls, but you never did that. Why did you stay open when the process became so tiring?

A: I kind of realized that was part of it. You don’t want to put anybody down. I understand it’s a job. That’s what you get paid to do. It kind of makes it hard on you. Everybody’s wondering what this kid’s doing if he’s not returning your phone calls. Usually, you kind of look back at it and at the time you might be busy, but if they leave you a message and later if you’re not busy there’s nothing wrong with calling them back and answering. Usually it won’t be for an hour. (The interviews are) usually 10 or 15 minutes. They’re not that bad.

Q: Who has had the most significant influence on your football career?

A: Probably Mr. Paul Jones. He’s the general manager for the Edmonton Eskimos, the Canadian team. He’s helped me out in every aspect of it. My school is kind of a small school. No players really go D-1. They go D-2 or something like that. He’s helped me out and told me what’s going to happen here. He’s just led me each step of the way. It was good. He definitely supported me in all of my decisions.

Q: How do you know Paul Jones?

A: He’s a guy that lives in the neighborhood. He’s really good friends with my head coach. I’ve seen him a lot. He kind of knew from the beginning I was going to be pretty good I guess. My sophomore year he knew I was going to be pretty good so he just helped me out getting me into camps my junior year. He helped me with just getting me better.

Q: When did you know you would have a future in football?

A: Probably after my junior season. It sure wasn’t after my sophomore year. I had a lot of dropped balls. I was like, man I don’t know if I’m going to be any good at it. I went to camps and things like that and I didn’t really believe I was good then. I had to wait until the end of the season and toward the end of the season it seemed like everything went up. After that it was like, wow, I think I’ve got a future at this.

Q: What is your favorite part about playing football?

A: Probably in high school just going out under the lights, going out in front of the crowd and the lights and just playing and just having fun. Now it’s not going to be so much fun, it’s going to be more serious. Back then, it was more fun. You were out there enjoying it and having fun. That’s probably the best part about football, going out there and competing with everybody and stuff like that.

Q: Are you excited about being able to play at Stadium in front of more than 100,000 fans each home game?

A: That’s not the reason I picked them, but it definitely helped. People say, where did you go to school? I say I went to Tennessee. That’s a crazy place to play. That’s the first thing everybody says. You don’t want to go in there and be the opponent going in there. That definitely helps. A Saturday night game in Neyland stadium has got to be electrifying.

Q: You live in a small town in Sterlington. What do you think the transition will be like moving to Knoxville?

A: It’s going to be alright. You kind of surround yourself with great people like coach (Trooper) Taylor, coach (Phillip) Fulmer and coach (David) Cutcliffe. They’re going to take care of me as far as that. I’m not going to go there and go out to parties all the time and things like that. I think the adjustment’s not going to be that big of a difference for me.

Q: What is your proudest athletic moment?

A: Probably just going to the Army game. At the end of my junior year, somebody asked me if I was going to be in it, but I was like, no man. When it came up it was a big accomplishment. I was like, golly, this is really the elite. So it was probably that. I was surprised. I really didn’t think I was going to be picked to do it. I was definitely surprised and thankful for it.