With major departures on the defensive line from a season ago — Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant each selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft — the Michigan football team’s D-line was looking for a new beacon of energy.

Senior defensive lineman Damon Payne, who was immediately attributed a slew of different nicknames, seemed like an easy answer.

“I got a lot of nicknames,” Payne said Monday. “I just like to be around the guys. … They say ‘It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s D-Payne coming through. I love it. They say that. I joke around with them all the time, and it’s just fun.”

Payne came in as a transfer from Alabama this offseason . During his three years with the Crimson Tide, Payne had a steady increase in production, recording seven, nine and 14 tackles in consecutive y

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