OXFORD — There are ample moments Chris Paul Sr. can point to that best embody the way he has tried to raise his children. The best? One night at a local buffet.
Paul Sr., his wife Velieka and two sons, Chris Jr. and Khajalen, were at a buffet near their hometown of Cordele, Georgia. The place was packed, Paul Sr. remembered. An elderly couple walked in — the woman had a cane and the man was in a wheelchair — and the woman was trying to help her husband make himself a plate.
After a bit of time passed, Paul Sr. realized his sons, 10 and 9 at the time, had gone missing. A quick investigation revealed they were in line, plates in their hands, helping the elderly couple create their meals. The woman approached Paul Sr. with tears in her eyes in disbelief.
“You have grown-ups that don’t even act like that,” the woman told Paul Sr. “… These boys are special.”
Ole Miss fans know Paul Jr. by his nickname “Pooh.” His standout play at linebacker, too, certainly makes him recognizable, boasting the highest grade of any player at the position, per Pro Football Focus.
What people might not know is he is one of seven children. You also probably don’t know Paul Jr. once showed up late to a travel-team breakfast because he was in his room praying, like his parents raised him to.
Paul Sr. was raised by his mother and grandfather and has never met his father. Velieka’s mother died when she was 16, and she raised her daughter, Sirrayna Perry, by herself until she met Paul Sr. Paul Sr.’s goal has always been to raise his household in the way his father never did. Family means a little bit more when you didn’t always have a full one yourself.
The lessons Paul Jr.’s parents instilled in him — that manners matter more than money and that it doesn’t cost a cent to make someone’s day — are clear in their oldest son. Sometimes Paul Sr. thinks his son is “too good to be true.”
If you’ve ever seen Paul Jr., he likely flashed a broad grin across his face. There’s an effervescent positivity to his demeanor. That’s by design. He wants to be someone who uplifts those around him, football or not.
“I just always want to be the guy to come in and put a smile on somebody’s face,” Paul Jr. said. “It (doesn’t) matter if it’s the players, coaches, film crew, it don’t matter. If you ask anybody, I’m always around, I’m always trying to make somebody laugh.”
Two Poohs
The odds of a man and woman going by the nickname “Pooh” and being from the same town are low. The odds of them eventually getting married? Well, consider that fate running its course.
“That was a major coincidence,” Paul Sr. said with a laugh.
Paul Sr. starred at Crisp County High School as both a football player and shot-putter in the late 80s and early 90s — he’s quick to note he still has the school record in the latter — and had a scholarship offer from South Carolina. He was never able to make his college athletics dreams reality, however, as he had three daughters by the time he was 17. Instead of pursuing football and track, Paul Sr. joined the navy. He had to “go be a man,” he said.
Following his service time, Paul Sr. moved back to Cordele, started coaching and had a stint of semipro football in Valdosta around 1998. He met Velieka — who had Perry and was in nursing school at the time — through a friend at work. The two got to know each other and were eventually married.
“Pooh” is a family nickname, Paul Sr. said; it was what his mother, Gloria, called him. It’s not a reference to the popular Disney character; it’s instead an endearing way of referring to a young child, Paul Sr. said. At one of the occasions when the families got together, Paul Sr.’s mother referred to her son as “Pooh.” Velieka’s eyes lit up — that’s what her mother used to call her, too.
Paul Sr. also ran a barbershop at that time. He always imagined that, after his military time, he would branch out and move away from his hometown. But a conversation with a friend’s father shifted his perspective.
Cordele was a tough place to be raised. Almost one-third of its population lives in poverty, while the median household income is less than half the national average, according to Census Data. Crime, too, is rampant, as Crisp County — where Cordele is located — has a crime rate of 45.36 per 1,000 and had a reported index crime total of 888 in 2023 despite having a total population of less than 20,000, according to data from the Georgia Crime Information Center.
The city needed people like Paul Sr. to help guide the next generation.
“‘Man, I’m going to be honest with you Chris, You were born here in Cordele. The kids and stuff, they love you here,” the man said. “These kids love you here. If everybody keeps leaving, who’s going to stay?’”
Said Paul Sr.: “That stayed with me.”
Helping the next generation
Paul Jr. played linebacker and running back ball for his father — Paul Sr. coached his son and his group of friends in tackle football from the time they were 7 through high school, where he was a volunteer linebackers coach for a time.
When he was 8 or 9, Paul Jr. nabbed a game-sealing interception and celebrated with his teammates. He was met shortly thereafter at the gate by his mother, his aunt, his sisters and his younger brother. They were all donning custom-made jackets with his face painted on them and his nickname, “Pooh,” written across it. His mother also clasped a 3D cutout of his head and shouted his nickname.
Paul Jr.’s days as “Chris” were over.
“My friends, they teased me for probably like two whole months,” he said with a laugh. “ … (One friend) came into class one day, and he had like this old jacket. He thought it would be funny to paint my name on the back, and he came in screaming ‘Pooh!’ … It had everybody in there dying laughing at me.”
Football was not the only sport Paul Jr. partook. In addition to running a leg of the 4×100 in high school, he played baseball through his sophomore year. While he loved baseball — he was a shortstop — football always had his heart. It wasn’t just because of the physicality or competitiveness of it all. It was the life lessons learned through the sport.
Paul Sr. enjoyed coaching his son — Paul Jr. admits there was plenty of coaching at home — but also enjoyed coaching his son’s friends. He saw it as an opportunity to help mold the next generation from Cordele. Eight members of that core group of Paul Jr.’s friends wound up playing college football.
“A lot of people from the outside looking in will be like, ‘He’s trying to live his life through his kids.’ But that’s not true,” Paul Sr. said. “ … I tried to give them what I should have had, if that makes sense. I tried to give them a piece of me that I wish I’d have had.
“ … Go and pursue your dreams.”
‘That’s when you make school history’
Before Will Conner even had a chance to meet his new players, his star linebacker already had a full scouting report on the new high school defensive coordinator.
It was spring of Paul Jr.’s sophomore year at Crisp County, and Conner was rumored as the program’s next defensive coordinator. When Conner got to campus, Paul Jr. walked in his office and introduced himself. He also let him know that he not only had learned some of Conner’s tendencies at his last job, but that he had also talked to some of Conner’s former players to pick their brains. Conner was “blown away.”
“He had actually already done his homework on me,” Conner said.
Those who know Paul Jr. laud him for his positivity and his jovial nature off the field. But when the pads and lights come on, there’s a switch that flips that Conner can’t explain. He’s never seen a more violent, intense football player than Paul Jr.
For someone who is so kind and caring in the rest of his life, Paul Jr.’s persona shifts on the field. Paul Sr. jokes he got that from Velieka.
“It’s kind of funny to me, to see his celebrations. … His whole demeanor on the football field is different,” Perry said.
Paul Jr.’s awareness on the field paired nicely with that fervent physicality. He knew everyone’s assignments and understood why Conner was calling the schemes he was.
In a state semifinal game Paul Jr.’s junior year, Jenkins High School broke the huddle in a formation it hadn’t shown on film previously. Cordele’s defense was completely out-of-whack on the play, but Paul Jr. had seen the running back line up similarly in a different formation. He knew they were going to try a swing pass.
“He came out like a bat out of Hades and just decleated the guy,” Connor said.
It’s not always the case that a team’s best player is also its model citizen. But that was the case with Paul Jr., who never complained about his usage on a game-to-game basis or about the defensive game plan. Paul Jr. and his teammates were focused on one thing: winning.
As a junior in 2019, the Cougars made it all the way to the GHSA AAA title game. As a senior, Paul Jr. helped lead the Cougars to the Final Four of the GHSA AAA playoffs. He racked up 368 tackles — including 46 for loss — in his last three seasons.
Conner credits that group’s focus to Paul Sr.’s mentorship and Paul Jr.’s ability as a teammate.
“You know you have something special when your best player is your best kid,” Conner said. “That’s when you make school history.”
“He’s just special”
Paul Sr.’s mother, Gloria, always told Paul Jr. to be positive. That mentality was tested early in his Ole Miss tenure.
Paul Jr. and Gloria talked every day. It was something they looked forward to. She died in August, just a few months after Paul Jr.’s life had already undergone some drastic changes. After spending three years at Arkansas — he was the Razorbacks’ second-leading tackler in 2023 — Paul Jr. decided it was in his best interests to enter the transfer portal. He wanted to find a team and teammates who shared the same passion for winning that he did.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and defensive coordinator Pete Golding didn’t need much selling; they had seen Paul Jr. in action first-hand and loved the way he played.
“I just thought he was so physical and played so hard,” Kiffin said. “… He got hurt in our game against them a year ago, and I just felt like it was a difference when he was in there. … He plays really hard, and he’s a great teammate.”
Paul Jr.’s now-fiance, Nya Stewart, found out she was pregnant when Paul Jr. was in the transfer portal. Stewart, who played college basketball at Arkansas-Fort Smith, is from Memphis. Ole Miss made logistical sense, being just 80 miles down the road.
Paul Jr. fit in quickly at Ole Miss. His new teammates wanted the same things he did — team success and giving it everything you have on every play. It was actually senior quarterback Jaxson Dart who was one of Paul Jr.’s main recruiters, as the two got to know each other playing video games.
And, as a father, Paul Jr. is exactly how you think he is. His daughter, Laya, was born in May.
“We were talking in a group chat not too long ago, and him and his baby, they stay right there in each other’s face,” Perry said. “And I was telling him, ‘You finally have somebody that wants you to be in their faces.’ … ‘You have somebody now that wants to be in your face just as much as you want to be in theirs.’ And it’s so adorable.”
The passing of his grandmother right before the season hit Paul Jr. hard. He admits he was in a bad place mentally, though you’d never know it from the smile on his face. Paul Jr. made sure to show up to the Manning Center every day with the same infectious attitude he had before. Teammates didn’t even know his grandmother had died, Paul Jr. said.
The Paul family is deeply religious, and he said prayer helped him get through the death of his grandmother. His close-knit family did, too. And it was Gloria’s message — to always smile and bring energy, even at the lowest of times, that makes Paul Jr. the person and football player people love.
“Pooh’s a great person as well as a great football player,” sophomore linebacker TJ Dottery said. “ … That’s where our relationship built that the most, was from off the field, being able to talk and communicate about football and about just life.”
Conner, who is now coaching at Jones County, has a linebacker coming up now he believes has star potential. He already plans on having Paul Jr. talk to him. He wants all of his players to be like Paul Jr., on and off the field.
He’s someone all of Cordele can be — and is — immensely proud of.
“If you could bottle it up, I’d get it and I’d sell it to everybody in the country,” Conner said. “He’s just special. And I love him. I love him to death.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 48 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
