By John Goolsby, For the Tribune
IRONDALE-Friday night was a big night for Shades Valley High School and Irondale native Daron Payne.
Payne, a former All-SEC player at the University of Alabama and current All-Pro defense tackle with the Washington Commanders, had his number 94 jersey retired in a ceremony on the Shades Valley campus.
Payne became only the fourth Mountie to have their jersey retired. The 6-foot-3, 320-pound tackle joins Auburn and San Francisco 49er draft pick Alvin Bresler (no. 44), Auburn All-American and Philadelphia Eagle Ben Tamburello (no. 55) and the late Bonkey McCain (no. 71) with that honor.
Payne was humble in receiving the honor. “It’s really not about me,” he said. “It’s about all of y’all. All of you who helped me get to where I am today. I know for a fact that I couldn’t do this myself.”
Mayor James Stewart also presented Payne with The Key To The City of Irondale.
Payne didn’t just receive during the ceremony. He gave. The 13th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft gave $100,000 to his old school’s athletic department.
“I love this place,” Payne said. “I love Shades Valley. I want to see this place better. I want us to have nice things here.”
“You just don’t know what that amount can do for an athletic program,” said Shades Valley Head Coach and Athletic Director Rueben Nelson.
The 2015 graduate helped William Smith’s Mounties to a 19-5 record in 2013 and 2014. Valley was ranked in the top ten 18 of 22 weeks during Payne’s junior and senior seasons.
Four of the five Mountie losses came to state champions Hoover and Clay-Chalkville and state semi-finalists Vestavia and Florence.
“Daron never missed a workout or a practice,” said Smith. “Not once did I ever have a teacher or administrator say to me “Coach Smith, can you help me with Daron, his attitude is bad in my class or he’s being disrespectful.”
Payne was a consensus five-star recruit, the number one recruit in the state, the third rated defensive tackle and the number 19 overall prospect in the nation according to Rivals.
Payne was selected to the 2014 Alabama vs. Mississippi All-Star game and the 2015 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Inexplicably, Payne, the consensus number one player in the state, was not voted to the first or second All-State teams by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Payne chose Alabama over Auburn, Florida State, Clemson and Georgia.
Payne is thankful for his time at Valley. “I needed guidance and I got all my guidance from everyone in this building,” he said.
“Everybody did their best to bring me along. I just kept my ears open, kept my eyes open and I just appreciate this place.”
As a true freshman at Alabama, Payne started three games and saw action in all 15 games. Following the season, Payne was named to the Freshman All-American team.
Payne played in 44 games at Alabama from 2015-17. The 2017 All-SEC defender made 102 career tackles (39 solo), five tackles for loss, three sacks, five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and one interception.
Payne also caught a one-yard pass from Jalen Hurts for a touchdown in the All-State Sugar Bowl. Payne’s athletic reception for the score helped the Tide pull away from Clemson for a 24-6 win.
Current Pleasant Grove head coach Darrell LeBeaux, an assistant at Shades Valley with Payne, will quickly tell you that wasn’t Payne’s first reception for a score. “He did that against Center Point his senior year.”
Payne left Tuscaloosa after his junior year with a 41-3 record, as a two-time national champion, an All-SEC selection, the Sugar Bowl Co-MVP, and the College Football Playoff National Championship Co-MVP.
Payne was the 13th player selected in the 2018 NFL draft.
In his first year with Washington, he finished with 56 total tackles, five sacks, and a forced. Fumble. Payne was named to the 2018 NFL All-Rookie Team and Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team.
As great as Payne’s college career was at Alabama and how his NFL career has gone thus far, Daron’s high school career at Shades Valley didn’t start out as well.
“On the first practice of his 9th-grade season, Daron hurt his knee and had to have season-ending surgery,” Smith said. “Daron completely recovered, but towards the end of his freshman year, he was trying to dunk a basketball and came down awkwardly and dislocated a kneecap.”
“I had to call Kemberly, his mom, and when she drove him away from school that morning, I wondered if he’d ever play again,” Smith said.
“I had never seen a knee dislocation, and it looked really bad. Daron never gave up and bounced back with a great sophomore season.”
Payne has proven to be durable. He has only missed one game in his five year NFL career.
Payne made his first Pro Bowl selection in 2022. He recorded a career highs in sacks, QB hits, and tackles for loss.
Payne’s hard work paid off. He was ranked as the 11th highest free agent in the NFL and signed a new four-year $90 million contract a few months ago.
Before Payne left, he gave some advice to the 2023 Mountie team. “Y’all can do anything you want to as long as you dedicate yourself to it,” he said. “You have to put the work in. You have to make sacrifices. You just have to do it.”