Kentucky Wide Receivers Embrace New Nickname: Paper Chasers

Someone once said, if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense. College athletics have been flooded with money for decades. Now the players are finally cashing in. The Kentucky wide receivers are using money as a motivation, yet this group isn’t just about the bottom line. Their new calling card is all about doing business on the football field the right way.

Joe Price III leads the Kentucky wide receivers after spending the last six years at UTSA. He inherited a mixed bag of returners and newcomers. While trying to blend together the pieces to create a common culture, a nickname for the wide receivers emerged.

“We call ourselves the Paper Chasers,” Price said after Tuesday’s spring practice. “Ultimately, in this football environment, you can capitalize on your abilities on the field, but we’re student-athletes. We want to chase a degree as well. What we’re really talking about is accountability, playing fast and physical on the perimeter, and just really showing up any way we can to be able to help our team.”

Wide receiver Shane Carr added, “That’s a motto for us receivers. If we’re not chasing paper, then we’re not doing what we’re supposed to do.”

Monetary motivation rubs college fans the wrong way. Before a blowout loss to Vanderbilt, the basketball team broke down a huddle by saying, “Touch money.” Some Kentucky fans were irate. The implication was that players were more motivated by money than by the name on the front of the jersey.

“Touching money” or “chasing paper” should not be taken literally. It’s a turn of phrase. The goal is to win and win big. Winners are rewarded by being compensated. That’s how the world works.

“I know probably some people think about it as chasing money, but when people say ‘get money,’ that’s like, ‘let’s go.'” explained Brock Coffman. “I would say, ‘Let’s get paid,’ but that’s kinda the same thing. It’s a mentality of let’s go win. Let’s go do what we need to do, get in and out, and do our job.”

When Carr and Coffman were in high school, money was an afterthought in their recruitments. They had to work hard to earn a bigger opportunity, one that comes with more compensation. Price is using the Paper Chasing mantra to let his players know that their dreams are within their grasp. They must be at their best every single day to turn those dreams into a reality.

“The question I’ve asked them, if I told you to do this and you have a chance to make a million bucks, would you do it? It’s a realistic question,” said Price.

“I could’ve said that five years ago, and the only million bucks they could’ve made was in the NFL. Now I can say that, and truly, they can really double their opportunity to create revenue for themselves if they just buy into what we’re asking them to do. At the end of the day, them playing well helps me, helps their team, helps Coach Stein, helps everybody in the building, so my goal is to encourage them the right way to play the right way so they can ultimately change their lives.”

If the Paper Chasers touch money this fall at Kroger Field, Kentucky fans will be rewarded with plenty of points and satisfying victories on Saturdays.