Mick Unplugged - Transitioning from Military Precision to Sports Agency with Damian Knight

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, where Mick Hunt sits down with Damian Knight, a true powerhouse in the sports industry. Damian, a former Marine and Army veteran, has carved out a unique and impactful career as an NFL agent and founder of Forever Athlete Management. With his experience and commitment, he represents elite athletes, guiding them to achieve success both on and off the field. Damian’s military background is not just a part of his past; it plays an essential role in his approach to athlete management, bringing discipline, leadership, and an unwavering dedication to his clients. In this episode, listeners can expect an in-depth exploration of Damian's journey from military service to the realm of sports management. Damian shares the motivations behind his transition, the challenges he faced, and the values that drive his mission to ensure athletes are prepared for life after sports. Tune in to discover the intricacies of becoming a sports agent, including navigating the rigorous certification process, understanding athlete contracts, and managing egos and expectations. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone fascinated by sports management, personal transformations, or leadership-driven success stories. Takeaways Transitioning from the military to a sports agency was a multi-faceted journey. The importance of mentorship in guiding athletes is crucial. Networking and personal connections play a key role in signing clients. Sound Bites: "You need to get in the books." "The money is going to come." Connect & Discover:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-knight-866981101 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nfl_agent_damianknight Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/damian.knight.501 Website:  https://www.foreverathletemanagement.com/  FOLLOW ME ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/                                         Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the common person, what's something that as a sports agent that most people don't think that you have to know or a rule that you have? You know, like one thing that people probably don't associate with sports agents having to know is like these are the benefits the NFL gives you. This is the right opportunity for me to ask my friend, what's your because, brother? Because I don't want to see guys get left behind. I don't want to see guys get forgotten about. And you hear this statistic of your NFL players three years after the NFL had grown. So for the athlete that's listening or watching this podcast, why Forever Athlete Management? Why FAM?

Why should they choose you? If you look at this entire industry, you have over a thousand agents as of this year. And I don't know the exact number, but it's between 150 and 200 agents actually have people on a roster. That's it. Right. So Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves and game game-changing conversations. Buckle up, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and today we have a dynamic force in the sports industry.

He's a former Marine and Army veteran, he's a current NFL agent and the founder of Forever Athlete Management. With the relentless drive and commitment to excellence, he represents top tier athletes, guiding them to success on and off the field. Please welcome my guy, someone who's turned into one of my best friends

in the world, the tenacious, the visionary, the dedicated Mr. Damien Knight. Damien, how you doing, brother? Man, I'm good. Thank you for having me on today. Thanks for being on. I know we had some weirdness that happened right before getting on here live, but I'm honored to have you on, man.

I told you offline, I've told you in our Instagram conversations and our text messages, dude, I appreciate the human being that you are. I've learned so much about you, obviously through social, following your path, but then you're just an overall great dude, man. I just appreciate you for being the dude that you are. Man, yeah, I really appreciate it, man.

I'm just trying to spread that positivity throughout the world no matter what I'm doing, man. That's it, that's it, man. So, I wanna start with your military background, I had someone on a couple of weeks ago and I used to always tell military personnel, active, inactive veterans, I used to always say, thank you for your service. And he corrected me and said,

Mick, you know, we hear that a lot. What we really want to hear and feel is how was our service so that we can have that conversation. Because when someone says, thank you, right, the response is the tip that hat and say, you're welcome. But the conversation starts when you ask, how was your service? So Damian, man, like how was your service, brother? Man, that's a, that's definitely a good view on this whole thing.

I wouldn't trade it for anything else, right? It taught me a lot of lessons. I joined super young. Like I graduated high school at 16 years old, thought the military was my way out. You know, I had to get out of town. So I joined the Marine Corps and early on got identified to be part of this like nuclear reaction team where,

you know, I had to go through this big selection and everything was super, a lot of red tape to get into, like know, I had to go through this big selection and everything was super, a lot of red tape to get into, like realistically, right? Made me grow up really quick, especially for a 17 year old kid, right? Who, that's what I was, a kid, you know? And then very quickly was put in charge of people and assets and, you know, seeing things that people only see in movies, you know, like very quickly. And it was awesome. I feel like it made me mature a lot quicker than my peers. You know, I would go back home on leave

and I'm 18 years old telling people to be careful and be responsible and this and that. And all they're thinking about is the party on Friday night or whatever's next, you know? So it was great. So I made a lot of really good friends, lifelong connections there at my first duty station in South Georgia.

And then I had a couple of options of where to go after. And California popped up as one. And I was like, man, I've never been more west of Mississippi at this point in my life. So I was like, let's do it, man. So jumped in, ended up getting stationed in Twentynine Palms, California, which was a, it's the middle of nowhere. It's the desert. The closest thing is like Joshua tree, which is beautiful, but it's the desert. You know, it is what it is. So I always told people it's in the middle of nowhere, but in the middle of everything. Because you know, everything in life is what you make of it. And I was about two hours from Vegas, two and a half hours from LA, two and a half hours from San Diego. So if

you wanted to do something, you were in the prime location, you know, but if you wanted to sit there and sulk, you are also in the prime location if you want to feel bad for yourself. So, you know, one thing that I did early on was, you know, take in a lot of guidance and leadership from everyone. I just wanted to learn. I volunteered for literally everything, even the things that going back, I wish I wouldn't have volunteered for. And I learned a lot and was able to develop myself as a servant leader. That's something that I transitioned into this NFL space of how can I best lead these? They're not soldiers or Marines anymore, but they're high level athletes that they don't always have it all together.

They need that mentorship and that guidance and that what's next planning. That's what I feel the military was able to help me really transition into the space. I appreciate that so much, man. Like I said, you know, I'm definitely thankful for the service that you put in, and more importantly, the servant leadership that you have, right, to not let it stop there.

But I want to unpack something you just said, man. So you graduated at 16? Yeah. As much as I thought I knew about you, I also man. So you graduated at 16? Yeah. As much as I thought I knew about you, I also didn't know you were a nerd apparently. And that's the thing, man. Like I always tell people, like you go back and check the transcripts

and they're not as pretty as they should have been. They were, I was just, I had a mission. My mission was to get out of town, right? And so I went to my guidance counselor, my junior year of high school, and I was like, how do I get out of here? And they're like, well, if you want to, you could take night school, right? And so I went to my guidance counselor, my junior year high school, and I was like, how do I get out of here? And they're like, well, if you want to, you could take night school, right? So I was going to school normal, like nine to four o'clock every day,

whatever it was. And then I would go work. I had a job. I was working as an ex-piece. I was working there from about five to eight every day. And then I would leave there and go to the technical college in town and take school with adults that were trying to get their GEDs. And I was taking like a couple extra English classes and math classes just to check the boxes.

And I ended up graduating with like a 2.7 GPA, but I got out of there, man. And it was a super busy senior year. Everybody has these stories of their senior year, how wild and crazy it was, man. Mine was, I started grinding right away. I was trying to get out of town, man. Yeah, okay.

All right, so now let's fast forward to, you're now officially out of the military. What led you to the path of sports agency life? You know, if you go back, I don't think there was ever one catalyst. There was like multiple things that kind of led me into this path. And you know, I got out of the Marine Corps, didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew how to shoot guns, right?

So I started working at these gun ranges and at gun stores, just trying to make it make sense. After about four or five months, I was like, man, I need to be back in the military in some capacity. So I joined the Florida Army National Guard to try to become a Green Beret actually. And I went through this thing called Special Forces Readiness Evaluation where I actually got selected through this process to be able to continue training. And then I started college kind of simultaneously, definitely bit off a little more than I could chew. It was great,

man. I started playing rugby in college, doing all this stuff. I was in probably the best shape of my life, trying to do all these things at one time. And then COVID happened. When COVID happened, everything kind of slowly shut down in Florida more so than, you know, the pace it did the rest of the world. But I remember I was working at a gun store. I ended up meeting an athlete who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who's now actually one of my best friends. He's actually going to be at my house Sunday for the super. Like one of my best friends in the whole world. And I just kind of seen how he was treated by agents along the way and kind of like forgotten about here and there. And yeah, I just thought to myself, it reminded me of the military and all those times where

I was forgotten about or kind of treated like a number when I knew like, hey, man, I'm the guy. Like, why are you treating me like a number? You know? And so I wanted to take that and apply it, you know, hey, how can I help these guys? And, you know, during COVID, I went and I was actually a contractor for the Department of State as a sniper, there was nothing else to do, the world was shut down. So let me go make some money. And I did that for a while. I actually got stuck in Afghanistan because flights were happening. I was supposed to be there for three months, ended up being there for like seven and a half, eight months, something like that. And came back, met my wife who actually is the sister of one of my fellow rugby playing teammates, you know,

so that was kind of cool. And after that, man, she kind of convinced me to start my first business, which was, you know, kind of leaning into that long range sniper, you know, military background that, you know, I kind of had from all the things I had done and, uh, started my first company, which was like doing security consulting and teach people to shoot. And obviously it was easy. It was a lot of fun. I was able to do all the stuff I liked from the military, but

leave all the stuff I hated behind, which was great. I ended up teaching like a handful of NFL players, you know, every month, how to do this. And I you know, it started becoming a trend. It wasn't just one NFL player who would complain about their agent. It was, you know, this guy and this guy, or maybe they wouldn't complain directly, but they'd be like, Hey, man, this guy's tripping. You know, this guy and this guy, or maybe they wouldn't complain directly, but they'd be like, hey man, this guy's tripping. You know, like, you gotta figure this out.

And I'd be like, you know, just kind of take notes. I didn't really ask him any questions. I was just taking notes, you know? And finally asked one of my friends, like, hey, do you think I should do this? He was like, oh, a hundred percent, man, you kill it. And I was like, all right, when you hear that from someone in the space, you just gotta, you know,

Jesus take the wheel, you gotta do it, man. And so, talked to my wife about that too, it was a really big decision. And she was like, yeah, you can do anything you put your mind to. She's a rock star, man. Like without her, who knows where I'd be. And I went back to school, got my master's degree,

and you know, went through the process to become an agent, which I did not do nearly enough research for. Tell us about that process. What is that process like? Yeah. So the first thing you have to, you have to have a master's degree or better, like a terminal degree. So like a lawyer, doctor, something of that nature. And then you go through this application process, which opens up every January and they make it sound like it's just a normal job application. You know, you pay your fee and that's it, but then you open it up and it's like 160 pages.

And you're like, what, what am I getting myself into? I felt like I was back in the military about to try to go for top secret security clearance, you know, and you fill this thing out and it's asking you for references and everything you did. And, you know, a lot of jobs I've had, I've like let people know like, hey, I'm gonna put you down as a reference.

There was no way in my head, I the NFL was going to reach out to every single reference I put down. And I started getting called from Marines that I hadn't talked to in 10 years that were like, Hey bro, why did the NFL just call me? And I was like, Oh no. So I started like backtracking, trying to get everybody up and let them know. So anyways, you do this application in January, it's due by February. And then they go like radio silent. You don't hear anything from them at all until about May. And then all of a sudden they're like, Hey man, congratulations, you're eligible to take the test. And they send you, you have all these materials that are sent to you. And

I remember looking at it, you know, through the same lens I did in the military, which is when I was given information, I would just memorize it. Right. But this was like 700 pages and I had two months and I was like, Oh no, I can't memorize this. And I thought I was going to, I told my wife, I was like, I'm going to sit right here every night when the kids go to bed, I'm going to memorize a couple of pages. And I opened it up and I closed it right back and I slid it aside. I was like, you know what, we have a seminar in a couple of months. They'll teach me everything I need to know. Oh boy. And I just trusted the process, man. And I really didn't open the book at all until I went to that five-day seminar.

And you go to the seminar and they're teaching you so much information. So basically, you go to the seminar like seven or eight every morning until about 5 p.m. And then what I was doing from 5.30 p.m. until midnight was studying all the information they just taught us. And I did that for five days. On the sixth day, you take the test. And you know, I was hearing all these horror stories about people because if you fail it the first time, you can take it again in a year, right? If you fail it the second time, you have to come back in five years. I'm hearing horror stories. There was a lady in our class who's like, this is my fourth time taking the test. You know, I'm no mathematician, but I'm hearing horror stories. There was a lady in our class who's like, this is my fourth time taking the test. You know, and I'm no mathematician, but I'm over here crunching the

numbers. That's the life journey right there. Wow, this is, I was like, what do you do for a living? She's like, I'm an attorney. And I was like, Oh, no, I was like, if an attorney can't pass this, and this is like a very law heavy, you know, book, I was like, this is, this is a rap. I remember I can't I call my wife after the test, because the biggest was like, this is, this is a rap. I remember I can't, I called my wife after the test because the biggest thing people tell you is they time out, they, they, they lose track of time because the questions are too dense. And you have basically three minutes of question. And, um, you know, when I did my average time at the end of this, I finished it in about 40 seconds of question. I just, I flew through the test and I called my wife

and I was like, hey, I finished. And she was like, oh no, like how was it? And I was like, I definitely failed. Like there's no way I finished that quickly and people are struggling with time unless I misinterpreted every single question. And I really think the thing that helped me the most is that I wasn't an attorney.

So I didn't read too deeply into every single question. And like, I'm very good at, for my time in the military, they give you a mission and you have to sift through a lot of BS, you know, to find out what you actually have to do as a unit. So it's the same thing. I just went through and it may be a 1000 word question that you're only looking for eight words, you know? And so like, I'm pretty good at skimming that and finding what I needed. And then, yeah, it worked out, man. So you take this test in July, you know? And so like, I'm pretty good at skimming that and finding what I needed. And then, yeah, it worked out, man. So you take this test in July and you don't even find out.

Again, it goes silent until October, whether or not you passed. So I finally got the call in October that I passed and hit the ground running, man, never look back. I love that, man. I love what you just said about, you know, you just answered the question. And to me, that correlates in life too, because a lot of times

people, I think they feel like they need to give you more words than are actually needed, or they need to paint a picture that isn't there. But most of the time, you just want the answer. Right? Like I don't I don't need Damien to talk to me for 20 minutes when he could have just said five words, and I could have got to where I'm going. Right. And I think that's where people miss. And for me, especially leaders, sometimes your team just needs the answer. Sometimes they just need the vision. Sometimes they just need to say,

hey, we're going over here so that they know, all right, we're going over. Correct. Right. I love that, man. So going back to that test really quick, like what's for the common person, what's something on that test without like going through a quick, like what's for the common person, what's something on that test without like going through a question, but what's something that, that as a sports agent, you have to know that most people don't think that you have to know or rule that you have. You know, like one thing that people probably don't associate with sports agents having to know is like the benefits, like health benefits that players get, right?

So obviously you expect us to know money. You expect us to know contract values, that kind of thing, cause that's negotiation. But what we also have to know is if a player gets hurt because of an injury, how do you guide them through that process, right? What does their medical recovery look like? It's not always as easy as the player is gonna get help

by the team. They could get released by the team and need one, two, three opinions, go on workman's comp. Now we have to navigate that state's workman's comp on top of the NFL's processes. And so I would say that's one of the things that really gets a lot of people are the benefits that you have to memorize. Like we're over here having to understand like the 401k that the NFL has, you know,

the matching that the NFL has like stuff that will never apply to me and I don't get a percentage on. So why should it matter? Right. But it's so you can educate your player. So they're set up for life after the NFL. And I would say that's that has to be the biggest thing that I did not expect. They gave me 40 pages on hey, these are the benefits the NFL gives you.

And I'm like, oh, wow. Yeah, that's oh, wow. Yeah, that's amazing, man. So, all right. So now you're an agent, right? Talk to us about getting your first couple of clients. Like, I know you had some friends that asked for advice and this and that, but then when ink has to go to paper, it becomes a little bit different. So part of my initial thought process was like, Hey, I know all these guys and they're coming up on contract years and they trust me like we're boys. They're about to sign with me. This is going to be awesome.

It's going to be a slam dunk. And that was just not the case. So I go through, I become an agent, I'm texting all my friends like, Hey, man, I made it. I made it. I made it. And they're like, cool, like, are you going to work for a big agency? And I was like, well, you know, I reached out to a couple and I'm not going to name them, but like their morals and

ethics just didn't align with mine. Right. And so for that reason, I actually met someone else through the process of becoming an agent, we started our own agency together, right. So I have a business partner in this whole thing, Jeffrey Poe. And I was like, nah, man, I'm gonna do my own thing. And almost every player would be like, oh, that's bold. And I'd was like, nah, man, I'm gonna do my own thing. And almost every player would be like, oh, that's bold. And I'd be like, oh, what do you mean? They're like, well, how about I make a call

and you can work with my agent. And I'm like, oh man, like, what am I getting my hands into? You know, I'm like, no, no, no, I mean, I trust myself. I know the process, like I'm gonna kill it. And none of those players signed with me, obviously, or else I'd be in a whole different boat right now. But I will say that those players would check in on me through the process They'd ask me they they'd you know, tell me about certain athletes that maybe aren't even in the NFL

They never made it but it was their friends so they could kind of connect me with them but largely man connect on these athletes is a It's like online dating you're sliding into the DM's is it's like online dating. You're sliding into the DMs. You watch, so, you know, the office now is, you know, Saturday watching a football game. And then you see a player who looks flashy and fast and you look up the stats on ESPN.

And then you turn around and you read every report you've ever heard or that's ever been written. And then you find them on Instagram and you go, hey man, you looked really good on Saturday. You know, like I love the way that you attacked the ball. Would you like to talk? You know, and it's like, it's really hit or miss. And obviously it's a little bit more in depth than that,

but that's really what it feels like. And you'll have players that, you know, they leave you on red and it kind of hurts your heart a little bit. You're like, man, I thought a lot into that message. And then you have players that'll immediately hit you back or you have players that'll never ever even open the message because they have so many followers,

you get lost in the mix. So, you know, I got really fortunate. I guess it's a mixture of being fortunate and having a drive that a lot of other people don't. So when last year, October came around and they're like, hey, this counts as one of your years, you know, being certified, you only have three years to sign somebody or you expire. Oh, I'm getting somebody year one. That was my whole goal. I'm getting somebody. And so

I went through and started looking at every team across America, hopefully, like thinking that I could get someone in Florida that we got someone toU, luckily, but like outside of that man, Florida's untouchable for me. I'm over here in Mississippi, Auburn, the Carolina's, you name it. You know, I was able to collectively as an agency, we signed over 10 people in year one. And, you know, we were able to get nine people into the NFL in year one.

And out of those people, you know, of the ones that I directly was kind of like the lead agent on two of them stuck in the one. And out of those people, you know, of the ones that I directly was kind of like the lead agent on two of them stuck in the NFL. So I had two players stick in the NFL year one and the other ones we all got two or three tryouts for. So it's not like that one opportunity we, we were able to provide them all the opportunity, which is really our job at the end of the day. Right. And you know, I can't play football for you, you know, unfortunately, I wish I could, man. If I could, I'd be in a different tax bracket because I'd be out there.

Right. So, no, and it was awesome. So, and again, we got a guy, Swayze Boseman for the Kansas City Chiefs and Alex Hale for the, he's a kicker actually for the Green Bay Packers. So those are my two guys. And then my partner has several guys as well. Yeah, I love that man.

I love that. So which one of you came up with the name of the agency? So Forever Athlete Management? That is a good question, man. We had a laundry list of about 100 names and we hated every single one of them. And so instead of just throwing them away, I started making logos. Sometimes you have to see it for it to be the name. And nothing was sticking, man, like nothing. And I was sitting on the couch one

day just got done playing with my daughter. I just had a beer. And I was sitting there and I was like, what, what am I doing here? Like, what is this agency about? You know, and the biggest thing is, I don't want a player to ever think, like, we're going to ditch them like, hey, you, you used to be a guy. And now we're going to forget about you like, No, I want to help you through retirement. Even if you had one year in the NFL or 10 years in the NFL, I want to see you succeed afterwards too, right? And so I was sitting there and I was like forever. And I just got stuck on the word

forever. And one of my boys hit me up. He texted me, he's like, Hey fam, what's up? And I was like, fam. I was like, hold on forever. And I just sat there. And finally, I sent it to my partner. And he was like, nah, man, that ain't it. And I was like, what do you mean? Like, this is crazy. Like, this is so good. And the next day, he called me up. He's like, hey, man, I was thinking about that. Like, I actually think you're onto something. And so I made the logo up and, you know, put it on a website. And we're like, oh, man, this is it. This is, you know, because it just is who we are. I cool, it's, it's cool branding, right? But also like we treat every player like you are family.

And that's not just being corny. Like I know about your mom, your dad, your sister. If you got a brother that was locked up, like I know that stuff, right? And they know it about me. Like I'm not trying to hide anything because I feel like if I'm open with them, they'll be open with me, you know? And that's just part of that process of getting to know.

No, I love that. And I actually was going to ask you, which is a great segue, because on the podcast, we talk about your because, right? That thing that's deeper than your why, like your true purpose. And so when I see FAM, right, Forever Athlete Management, I'm like, Damon's got to be cause somewhere around there. Whether it is family, whether it is legacy, there's a because somewhere. So this is the right opportunity for me to ask my friend,

what's your because brother? Man, that's I don't know if I've ever heard a word of that way. And I love that though. Like what is the because? And again, like, because I don't want to see guys get left behind. I don't want to see guys get forgotten about and you hear this statistic of your NFL players three years after the NFL are broke Yeah, well even at the very minimum salary you can make let's say you were even only a practice squad guy So we'll look at like really the nuts and bolts like you only made $750,000 right and it's like only only $750,000 is more than some people make in their entire lifetime, right? Probably my parents included, right? So when I look at that and I realized that the NFL doesn't require us to make them have

a financial advisor, that's kind of crazy to me. So I don't require you to, however, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. And we've already vetted a handful of them. So I make you vet them as well as part of the process. You want to join FAM, you're joining and you have to like kind of abide by what we are going with, right? Our system. And I just don't want any of these guys to call me three years after the NFL and go,

man, like you got a job because I'm broke. I need something, right? I want them in three to five years to be thinking, I want them to see that happening and then be able to call me and be like, dude, thank you so much. I am so glad I'm not in that situation. And it's not, I don't even need to thank you, but I just want them to realize that that's what I want for them, right?

I don't want them to feel trapped, you know? Yeah, that's good stuff, dude. So you told us a little bit about, you know, what it's like being an agent. Like you talked to us about the tests a little bit. Talk to the common folk like me about these contracts, right? Because we see these five-year, I mean, now I'm gonna out-date myself now,

five-year 200 million probably isn't even surface level anymore for a lot of these folks. But you see these big numbers, and then we always hear, yeah, but you gotta go back to the guaranteed because that's what the real contract is. So talk to the common folk about what these contracts really are,

what do you look for when you go to negotiate, and then from a player's perspective, what are some things that they should be looking for in these contracts too? Yeah, so it's a good point when you talk about guarantees and in reality, you know, talking to the common people, if you take someone who's been in real estate, right?

When someone has been in real estate and they go to sell their house or someone who hasn't been in real estate, they go to sell their house, what they're going to do is they're going to look at comps in the area. How much did my neighbor sell his house for? How much was my house sold for in the past? And what does the current market look like? Right? It's kind of the same thing with players.

Cool. So I got a wide receiver who has these stats and he played in these years. Let me look at every other receiver who is similar in height and weight and shape and play size and the years that they played and see how much that guy got, you know? Okay, so now we have our comparison amount and a lot of people, they'll look at it as like,

hey, the Jacksonville Jaguars, they were offered me $1 million, right? But no guarantee. Okay, well, the San Diego, or we'll say like the LA Chargers, they were gonna give me, you know, two million with one million guaranteed. So at face value, you look at it as,

all right, well, if I go there, it's double the amount, and the total amount of Jacksonville is guaranteed in LA, right? Which is great, you would think, but now dial back a little bit, we have to look at the tax rate for those cities, right? And where are you playing your games? Cause a lot of people don't understand that those, you don't just get taxed for the state you're in, right? You get taxed for every single city you play in. And so if I'm on a West Coast team, I'm probably playing a little more on the West Coast and we know those tax rates are higher, right?

Versus- The entertainment tax in California. Right. Yeah, man. And so a lot of the times when you look at those West Coast contracts, it will be a lot higher for that reason. And people are like, oh, he must just be a better player. It's like, no, in order to be there, he needed more money to survive.

So I would say that's kind of one thing to look at, but the guarantee is always the biggest thing. You could look at a contract and say, you're getting a three-year, $5 million contract, but four is guaranteed. That's awesome. Or you could get that same three years at the same location for $15 million, but none is guaranteed. You have to really ask yourself, what do I think I'm going to get? So if it's not guaranteed, there's probably incentives. We'll keep it with wide receivers. Maybe he has to have X amount of touchdowns or X amount of first downs, or he has to have

a thousand yards receiving every year to get a million dollar bonus, like whatever it is. And it's not just betting on yourself. A lot of players will be like, man, I'll bet on myself, I'm the best. And that's great. Every football player in the NFL was the best at some point and they probably still are.

Like they're better than everybody else. You know, I mean, that is a fact. So it's great that you're willing to bet on yourselves, but you have to look at this whole thing as a business now, and they're bringing in other receivers with similar incentives, you know, and then the coaches know the incentives. So sometimes, you know, in certain situations, quarterbacks or whoever will try to help you with that incentive, right? But maybe there's an incentive to the quarterback to not get you that incentive, you know, to save the franchise some money. So there's a lot that goes into it, man. And I would say one of the other big things to look at, and you know, it's back on that

guarantee thing, is when you're looking at a guarantee, things are guaranteed regardless of skill, injury. And if you're a guy who's had a bunch of injuries and you can get a guarantee that says, Hey, even if I re-tear the same ACL I've torn three times, I'm guaranteed a couple million, maybe it's worth you taking some off the top to have guaranteed generational wealth. So I think it's funny that when you get into this industry, and this isn't with everybody, but when you get into this industry and you're talking to a player about $5 million and they're like, man, that's not much money. It's like, man, you want to sit down and talk about how much I

make real quick? So it is interesting when you hit that tax bracket and then start realizing, what do you consider a lot of money? You know, oh, you have to be making $20 million a year to be making a lot of money. Yeah, that's crazy. Right. Yeah, right. That's good, man. So I have another question. I'm going to ask it and tie it to the real world for a second. That's crazy. Right. Yeah. Right. That's good, man. So I have another question. I'm going to ask it and tie it to the real world for a second. So let's just say I'm a salesperson and I get hired and they tell me I'm going to make $65,000, $70,000 a year.

With incentives and bonuses, I can make $100,000. And I bust my butt and I go, I'm the number one salesperson, I make $100,000. Next year, they hire someone else and they give them a base that starts at 100. And then now all of a sudden they're making 150, but I'm still the best salesperson out there and I can only make $100,000.

So now I'm gonna tie that scenario to the sports world. How do you deal with the ego? Right? So you signed someone or someone signs this year and they're the number one highest paid wide receiver. Well, then six months later, another team signed somebody and now they're the highest paid wide receiver. And so you've got that ego to deal with a lot with, with athletes? How do you manage that ego? Man, I would say that's that's kind of twofold. So one, when we're going through our process of finding athletes, we try to really screen for that, you know, and that's hard, because sometimes it'll come out later in life, right. But we really try to screen for that and like really do a lot of character evaluation on our

players. But I would say if I was faced with that situation, you just have to be honest with the player. Be like, look, you were the best. Now you have to prove that you're the best again, because you're currently under a contract. You signed, right? And every year, it's kind of like, you know, if you compare it to the national debt, unfortunately, our debt keeps growing, right? So the budget for the NFL keeps growing every single year. And so that debt that America has has things are going to adjust according to that debt, what percentage people are taking of it. It's the same thing with a salary cap, right? Every year that salary cap grows, you are already locked in, right? You're locked into whatever it is. And so now this player can get a larger percentage. So

it's really about how do we look at this in the future and make sure you're the highest paid again, right? So in order to do that, you have to swallow your pride for you know, Whether it's one year two years three years, right and go out there and show why you're better than him every single year You know show why you deserve to make more than him every single year So when that day does come it's not even a question of If he's there if he's lost a step if he's worth worth the money, they're gonna be throwing the money at you. So yeah, the ego may be there and then be like, hey man, screw that, release me,

I gotta go somewhere else. But the reality of it is a lot of times, even if you get released by that team because you feel this is a personal attack, when another team picks you up, they're picking up the same contract. Sometimes it's better, and I'll probably mess this up, but it's better to be with the evil you know

than the evil you don't know. You know? So that's probably the way that I would approach that. I love it, man. For everybody that's listening, what Damian is saying is keep working. Like let your work be your worth. A lot of times we start thinking about

or comparing to others. At the end of the day, if you're good at what you do, again, I don't care what industry you're in, what position you're in, I don't care what you do. If you were good at what you do, people notice. But it's the moment that you stop and you want to compare or you want to complain, people notice that too. People notice the work and people notice the not work as well. Yeah, and everybody's at a different point, you know? So, just got to recognize that.

That's what's up, man. So, what do you look for in the athletes you're bringing on? Because this is your season now, right? So, you know, college football is officially done with for this year and it's time for Damien, right? To start that evaluation process and it's go time for you, right? Yeah, man. And it's kind of a revolving door, right? Like it's constant, you know, I think our only downtime is maybe in the summer, right?

But I would say for me personally and as an agency, we value right and I'll say it time and time again And some people take it the wrong way But when you really unpack it and understand what I'm saying, it's a good thing So what I look for are great people who are good football players, right? Because you can take a great person who is intelligent who's good at football and make them better at football, right? That is very possible. But if you have a person who's a at football and make them better at football, right? That is very possible. But if you have a person who's a great football player, they're a killer on the field, but they're not a good person, it's a lot harder to make that adjustment and make a character adjustment at

23, 25, 26 years old, right? And I'm not saying that's not something I'm willing to do. I'm willing to help mentor and guide you and try to develop you. But some of those people don't want it, right? Hey, I am the guy. I'm the best corner in the NCAA. I don't need to be a better person, right? Like that's kind of the attitude you'll get. And the reason that I'm looking for those great people is because for example, a guy like Swayze Bozeman, right? Who played college football for seven years, right? Two years in junior college, five years of Southern Mississippi, had some injuries along the way. Such a great guy and a high work ethic that we knew.

Once he gets his foot in the door, they're not letting him go. Like, we just knew that. And the thing is, like, when I went to the AFC championship game and I'm down on the field and I was meeting the linebackers coaches and defensive coordinators, they're like, Swayze Boseman, that is one of the best people I've ever met. You know, and that's what I want to hear, right? He's obviously in the room for a reason still, right?

But he's one of those people when there's an optional linebackers meeting, he may be the only person who shows up. And that goes a long way. And if you're one of those guys with an ego or a chip on your shoulder and you don't show up to that, like you said, people will notice when you don't show up just as much as they'll notice you do show up. You know, and sometimes even more, they'll be like, man, he didn't show

up to this meeting today. You could have been there 29 days out of 30 of the month and you missed that one day and everybody in the office is going to talk about the one day you didn't show up. Absolutely. So that's what we look for, man. And a lot of the times everything else follows after that, right? You find this person who's a great person and someone who is receptive to criticism, right? And I just keep it real with these guys. I mean, I'm a lot different than most agents. I'm a little bit younger and I just keep it a hundred percent real with them. When they tell me, man, I'm the best, I'm the fast, I'm the strongest, I'll be like, maybe at your college, but not in NFL, you know, you're going to be one'll be like, maybe at your college, but NFL,

you know, you're gonna be one of the slowest if you don't get it together, you know? Like, hey, if you wanna be the best, you need to get off the video game and you need to get in the books, you know? Like, I just keep it real with these guys. And again, at face value, there's some people who will be like, what'd you just say to me?

Right, they like, they get caught off guard because a lot of agents, I say we, right? Cause I've caught myself almost doing this as you want to be a people pleaser. You wanna be like, oh man, you're the best, you can do it, blah, blah, blah. But I don't think that does anybody a benefit. At the end of the day, you're just really

just building this person up for mediocrity, right? And if you wanna be great, if you wanna be a guy who's in the NFL for more than two or three years, you have to show these intangible traits of why you're better than them. You got to have that work ethic. So that's what we try to get in all of our guys. There it is. So for the athlete that's listening or watching this podcast, why forever athlete management?

Why fam? Why should they choose you? Man, this is going to sound cliche, but I guarantee you I work harder than anybody else in this industry. Right? Again, everybody's going to say that, but why I know that that's factual is if you look at this entire industry, you have over a thousand agents as of this year. And I don't know the exact number, but it's between 150 and 200 agents actually have people

on a roster. That's it. Right? So we're looking at about 20% of agents actually have people on a roster. That's it, right? So we're looking at about 20% of agents actually have someone somewhere. And if you look at myself and my partner, we have five people in the NFL. So we're not, it's not like, hey, we accidentally got a guy on the practice squad.

Like, no, what we're doing is working, right? And in year two, like, quote me, I'm gonna have, we're gonna have 10. We're gonna have 10 guys in the NFL and we're gonna keep building. And the thing gonna have, we're gonna have 10, we're gonna have 10 guys in the NFL, and we're gonna keep building. And the thing is, why we're different is I'm never going to give an athlete an intern's phone number, right?

Or a secretary, you're always gonna be able to get a hold of me, my business partner, we have another guy who does just endorsements, another guy who just does PR, and you'll have all their cell phone numbers, you're gonna have the guys cell phone numbers, right? It's never going to be, Oh, can I take a message? Like, no, you're getting ahold of somebody, right? And that's no matter how big we get. So again, I say we've been growing. So we have this year's draft class. We have guys we're doing NIL for in college and we have our pros. We even have one of the UFL now, like we are getting everywhere quick. And so we brought in another agent who's actually NFL and NBA certified. Right?

So eventually there's going to be an NBA branch of FAM as well. And that's what we intend to keep doing is we get more athletes, we're bringing in more agents that are like-minded to keep that ratio high. So you always have someone you can reach out to and you never get lost in the mix. I love that brother. I love that man. Any final words of wisdom for the people, like anything you want the audience to know.

Man, I guess if there are any other athletes out there listening to this, what I would say is the money is gonna come. Don't get so wrapped up in the money now. If you focus on your education and you focus on your development, your personal development on and off the field, the money is gonna come. So don't get so wrapped up in it now. I love that brother. I love that man. So where can people find and follow my guy Damian Knight?

Yes, I'm on Instagram, NFL underscore agent underscore Damian Knight, as well as forever athlete management. That's our ad. We're also on X as fam agency. And yeah, if you guys want, you can shoot me a DM. If you have any questions, I'm an open book. And yeah, our website is foreverathletemanagement.com. If you have any questions, wanna submit, you know, any of your film or tape for us to look over, yeah, we'll definitely have someone reach out to you.

Athletes, slide into his DMs. Yeah. Slide into his DMs, he's ready. Yes, sir. Man, I appreciate you for taking time. I know how busy you are and I know how hectic your schedule is. So it means the world to me

that you took some time to spend with us, man. So I appreciate you, brother. Yeah, yeah, no, again, I appreciate you having me on here and I look forward to going back and watching this when I have some time and sharing it with the people on the internet. You got it, man. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Thank you for tuning in to Make Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.