College QBs Journey From Prison To Motivational Speaker Is A Life Lesson For Dallas ISD Students

Coach Andy Mac · February 28, 2022

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Damon West starts his presentation with, “We got the Uptown burglar. That’s the name I’m gonna have to live with for the rest of my life. That’s the consequences of my decisions and I wanna tell you because the choices you’re making today are gonna live with you for the rest of your life.”

Regarded as the leader in an organized ring that committed dozens of burglaries in Uptown Dallas starting in 2007, West was arrested in 2008. Initially he was sentenced to 65 years in prison. “That jury was able to sentence me to life in prison,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t do the entire life sentence because I’m standing in front of you today.”

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Freed from prison in 2015, West will be on parole until 2073. He recently shared his life story with student leaders in training from 22 Dallas Independent School District high schools.

West told CBS 11 News, “I’ve had a privileged life… got set back with the choices that I made and went to prison. It’s an interesting dynamic too when you talk about race in there because you know, it was for the first time that being white was no longer the advantage.”

Alondra Lemmer, a Dallas ISD Leader in Training, says, “I would take it as even though you come from a really bad place, or like you’re in a really bad spot, you can bring yourself upwards.”

Once a quarterback at the University of North Texas (UNT), West is proof that life is all about decisions. Now a motivational speaker, his transformation started with a concept shared with him in prison….which helped him co-author a Wall Street Journal best seller titled ‘The Coffee Bean.’

Read more: https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2022/02/28/college-qb-journey-prison-motivational-speaker-dallas-students/