 This was Stanford's first bowl appearance in eight years, but Paye was unable to play due to a shoulder injury.Backup Greg Ennis started instead, and Stanford lost a close game, 

Paye was selected in the tenth round of the 1987 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and stayed two seasons with the team, but saw no action in the regular season.After leaving pro football, Paye returned to Menlo as the girls' basketball coach, coaching his sister Kate.