FAYETTEVILLE — The official stationed along the sideline and in charge of setting the first-down marker could not believe what he was seeing.
As Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. ran down the left sideline with the football tucked in his right arm, a game official looked on with wide eyes. His left hand covered his mouth as the play unfolded.
Chris Paul Sr. was also in disbelief. As a proud father and coach, he attempted to keep his composure and pass off the allusion that he taught his son everything that had just transpired. But what he learned was that Pooh was uncommon, not only in athleticism but in football IQ.
“We were down by seven points in a game and had to get the ball back,” Paul Sr. recalled. “The running back broke out and Pooh went and caught the running back. A regular kid is just going to tackle the guy. Pooh reached in and ripped the ball out, the ball flew up in the air and he started running back the other way. I didn’t think his IQ was that high to know situational football like that — not at 8 years old.
“Any other kid would have just made the tackle. He reached around, pulled the ball out of the guy’s hands, the ball flipped up in the air, he caught it and got the ball back.”
An 8-year old Chris Paul Jr. runs with the ball after stripping a running back during a youth football game in Cordele, Ga.
The takeaway resulted in points and the game went into overtime, but it wound up on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the extra period. Nevertheless, Paul Sr. walked away from the loss encouraged and optimistic about his son’s prospects as a football player.
The people of Cordele, Ga., likely felt the same way. Years later, almost everyone who got a glimpse of Paul Jr. at the high school level became a believer.
“You start football in Cordele when you’re 7 years old,” Paul Sr. said. “He and my baby boy are a year apart, and I made Pooh sit out a year so they could play together. Pooh, he was always 24/7 with that football. That’s basically what surrounded him when he was a kid. He loved that football.
“He’s been in some leadership programs and BETA Club and things like that in school, but his main focus was that football.”
Paul Jr. began his ninth-grade season as a tight end. Linebacker was in his future, but he first had to wait his turn because Crisp County High School already had its star at the second level.
Quay Walker was the man. After high school, Walker became a key piece on a Georgia defense in 2021 that was as dominant as college football has ever seen. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“Pooh just wanted to get on the field,” Paul Sr. said. “Like I told him, if you want to just get on the field then you play wherever they put you. We had a new offensive coordinator come in that year so he ended up starting at tight end and sniffer.
“You know how it is in the small South Georgia high schools. When you’re a 3A school, your best athletes play every position and you try to get the ball in their hands, or you want them to lead block or whatever. He’s always been that type of kid.”
When Paul Jr. got his chance to shine, he made the most of it. Over his final three seasons, he recorded 340 tackles, 42 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.
The linebacker totaled a career-high in a different category each season. He tallied 6.5 sacks as a sophomore, 157 tackles as a junior and 20 tackles for loss in his senior year. The likes of Arkansas, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Louisville and Tennessee came calling with the hopes of making his dream of playing college football a reality.
Ranked the No. 22 inside linebacker in his class, Paul Jr. ultimately signed with the Razorbacks. And after another year of being groomed under standout linebackers Grant Morgan and Hayden Henry, he is in a position to make a difference at Arkansas.
His nose for the football, patience and maturity are all traits that are endearing to the Razorbacks’ coaching staff, including position coach Michael Scherer, who at Missouri made 266 career tackles. But the maturity piece is a reflection of those who had hands in his raising.
His father is a Navy veteran whose growing up was expedited when he had his first child at age 15. By the time he was 17, he had three girls. Paul Jr.’s five older sisters were essential in his upbringing.
“As you can imagine, it was kind of crazy,” Paul Jr. said. “They really and truly, other than my pops, taught me how to be a true man and stick to my word and showed me how far you can get with being honest and playing on hard work. Growing up with them, it really taught me a lot.
“I had to grow up at a younger age. My sisters, they helped impart that on me, just the small things. Sometimes kids take for granted what they have, but for me I took it as they’re trying to help me. They’re trying to help me to get out of the place that I come from, and they see something in me that I didn’t see at the time.
“Growing up with them was a true blessing.”
Paul Sr. saw his daughters act as his oldest son’s second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth mothers. They all ensured he stayed on the straight and narrow in a town in which, according to Neighborhood Scout, a person has a 1-in-17 chance of being the victim of a property crime or violent crime.
The site added that Cordele’s crime rate is higher than in 97% of communities in Georgia.
“Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s a rough place, but it’s still our home,” Paul Sr. said. “We didn’t have to worry about him when me and his momma went out of town. His sisters weren’t going to let him do anything. They instilled discipline in him, also.
“They were some real big sisters if that sums it up.”
Throughout his childhood, Paul Jr. was taught by his father to always think 10 years ahead. Have a leader’s mentality. Mentally be ahead of your current situation.
In terms of football, having the bigger picture in mind aided him as a ninth grader and in 2021. He redshirted last season and appeared in four games, including Arkansas’ victories over Missouri and Penn State, and finished with one tackle.
“I thought he would be a little disgruntled as far as coming up from 7 years old all the way until last year, you’re getting playing time. But he wasn’t,” Paul Sr. said. “We had to get used to not seeing him play, but at the same time he would be like, ‘Dad, my time is going to come. I’ll be ready.’ That kind of taught me that he understands and he’s got this.
“He understands it’s a process and the meaning of trusting the process. I’ve got to say his maturity level has grown because I would say I was less patient than he was.”
Last week against Cincinnati, Paul recorded five tackles over 18 defensive snaps, the most among Razorbacks linebackers beyond starters Bumper Pool and Drew Sanders. Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday the team will need him on the field more in the weeks to come.
There is trust among the coaching staff in the redshirt freshman given it has watched him develop and make plays in practices longer than other backups.
“I really like him. I think he’s going to be a really good linebacker,” Pittman said. “He’s in better shape. He wasn’t in great shape when he got here, so he’s in better shape now, and I just trust him and his reads.
“He seems to be very knowledgeable of what we’re asking him to do. He’s always been talented (enough) to do it, it’s just he had a little bit of a learning curve.”
Paul Sr., once again, is eager to watch his son flourish when given the opportunity.
“I think he’s going to be really ready this year,” Paul Sr. added. “And I definitely think that the state of Arkansas is going to be in for a surprise.”