Transitioning from Military Precision to Sports Agency with Damian Knight

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?

One thing that people probably don't associate with sports agents having to know is.

Like, this is the right opportunity for me to ask 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 are broke.

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 know 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.

Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves and 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. Damian Knight. Damian, 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, like obviously through social following your path, but then just you're just an overall great dude, man. And like, I just appreciate you for being the dude that you are, man.

Yeah, I really appreciate it, man. And that's, 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, you know, I want to start with your military background. And you know, 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 to tip the hat and say, you're welcome. But the conversation starts when you ask, how was your service? So Damian, man, how was your service.

Brother, man, that's, 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 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, realistically. Right. Made me grow up really quick, especially for a 17 year old kid, right, who, yeah, 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'll 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. So it was great. So I made a lot of really good friends, lifelong connections there at the, my first duty station in South Georgia. And then I had a couple options of where to go after and California popped up as one. And I was like, man, I've never been, I've never been more west of like Mississippi at this point in my life. So I was like, let's do it, man. So, yeah, jumped in, ended up getting stationed in 29 Palms, California, which was a. It's the middle of nowhere. It's the desert. You know, the closest thing is like Joshua Tree, which is beautiful, but it, 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 were also in the prime location if you wanted 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 like kind of a servant leader. And that's something that I transitioned into this NFL space of, like, how can I best lead these? You know, they're not soldiers or marines anymore, but they're high level athletes. They're that, you know, they don't always have it all together. Right. So they need that mentorship and that guidance and that what's next planning. And 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, that you put in and more importantly, the servant leadership that you have right to, to not let it stop there. But I want to unpack something you just said, man. So you graduated at 16?

Yeah.

Like, 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 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 at Zaxby's. 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. And I ended up graduating like a 2.7 GPA. But I got out of there, man. And it was a super busy senior year. You know, 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.

Okay.

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, you know, 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. Wow. 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 started my first company, which was like doing security consulting and teaching 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. Ended up teaching, like a handful of NFL players, you know, every month how to do this. And I, you know, it. 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, like, he's got to figure this out. And I'd be like, you know, just kind of take notes. I didn't really ask many 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's like, oh, 100, 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 got to do it, man.

Yeah.

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 or 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 the. 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 going to put you down as a Reference. There was no way in my head I thought 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 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?

Yeah.

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 gonna sit right here every night when the kids go to bed, I'm gonna memorize a couple 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 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, you know, they're. They're teaching you so much information. So basically you go to the seminar like 7 or 8 every morning until about 5pm and then what I was doing from 5:30pm 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, and I'm no mathematician, but I'm over here crunching the numbers.

That's a life journey right there, right?

Wow. This is. And 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 wrap. 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 cause the questions are too dense. And you have basically three minutes a question. And you know, when I did my average time at the end of this, I finished it in about 40 seconds a 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 that 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 1,000 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 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, we just want the answer, right? Like, I don't need Damian 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 there.

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 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 a 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 they. You expect us to know money, you expect us to know contract values, that kind of thing, because 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 going to get help by the team. They could get released by the team and need 1, 2, 3 opinions go on workman's comp. Now we have to navigate that state's workman's comp on top of the NFL's process. 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 were 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 amazing, man. 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, 100%.

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 gonna be awesome. It's gonna 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? 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 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, man. 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, 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, connecting with these athletes 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. And then you turn around, 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 I put 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. And, 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 at famu, luckily, but, like, outside of that, man, Florida's untouchable for me. I'm over here in Mississippi, Auburn, the Carolinas, 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 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 they had 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, you know?

Right.

So. No, and it was awesome. So. And again, we got. 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, so.

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's. That is a good question, man. We had a list, a laundry list of about a hundred names, and we hated every single one of them. And so instead of just, like, throwing them away, I started making logos. Like, sometimes you have to see it, you know, 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 were like, oh, man, this is it. This is. You know, because it just is who we are. Like, 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.