I Was a D1 College Quarterback — Then Got 65 Years in Texas Prison | Damon West

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2026

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Damon West was a Division 1 college quarterback with a promising future ahead of him, but a growing meth addiction sent his life into a downward spiral that ultimately led to a 65-year sentence in the Texas prison system. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Damon shares the shocking story of how drugs, crime, and bad decisions destroyed his life and landed him behind bars. He opens up about the brutal reality of Texas prisons, the mistakes that cost him everything, and the mindset that helped him eventually turn his life around. _____________________________________________ #ianbick #lockedin #lockedinpodcast #damonwest #texasprison #lifesentence #prisonstory #truecrime _____________________________________________ Connect with Damon West: https://damonwest.org/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 First Time Facing Prison: The Moment Everything Changed 01:02 Troubled Childhood & The Downward Path to Crime 03:57 Addiction, Crime & Hitting Rock Bottom 05:01 Sentenced to Life: Entering the Texas Prison System 06:01 What to Expect in Prison & Advice Before Going In 07:40 The Coffee Bean Story That Changed My Life 10:12 Arriving at a Level 5 Maximum Security Prison 11:01 Earning Respect Inside Prison 12:52 Personal Growth Behind Bars 13:36 Finding Purpose Through Leadership in Prison 14:27 Helping Other Inmates: Tutoring & Giving Back 16:01 Changing Prison Culture & Bringing Hope Inside 19:09 The Parole Hearing That Changed Everything 22:01 Life After Prison: Adjusting to Freedom 24:02 Rebuilding Life After Release 26:11 Becoming a Motivational Speaker After Prison 29:00 How “The Coffee Bean” Message Went Global 32:01 The Hidden Struggles After Prison 35:41 From Prisoner to College Professor 38:31 Inside the Prison System: Staff & Reality 41:11 Prison Animal Programs & Rehabilitation 42:42 Why Prison Reform Matters 44:00 How Background & Environment Lead to Prison 46:34 The Real Causes of Crime 50:59 The Power of Hope in Prison 53:32 Prison Violence & Survival Tactics 56:42 Adjusting to Society After Prison 01:01:00 Ending Violence Inside Prisons 01:03:09 Keys to Success on Parole 01:07:00 Addiction Recovery After Prison 01:12:15 Losing Yourself & Finding Purpose Again 01:16:18 Advice to My Younger Self 01:23:28 Staying Accountable After Prison 01:26:43 Final Message: Hope & Redemption Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've never been to prison before and everybody in county jail is telling me while I'm waiting on the prison bus, you have to get into a gang.
0:05.1	The part of prison you go to in Texas when you get a life sentence, it's a level five prison. It's the highest true level there is. It's the equivalent to, and the federal system would be a USP. There's a custody level law in Texas that if you get a life sentence, you have to live with other lifers only. You can't live in general population.
0:18.7	They just don't want you to escape.
0:20.1	They don't want you to get out.
0:20.9	They want to break you when you get there.
0:22.2	Do you think about how different it would have been if you didn't fight?
0:24.5	This guy was you to escape. They don't want you to get out. They want to break you when you get there.
0:22.1	Do you think about how different it would have been if you didn't fight?
0:24.4	This guy was gonna in the showers one night. My cellmate told me about it, gave me the jump on it. He also gave me a fan motor to beat this guy with. And I go to the shower that day and I ambush this guy coming to. So how do you not let a moment like that alter who you are as a person?
0:37.2	You got three options. You can fight, you can become someone's punk in there. Basically,
0:41.0	they'll pass you around to have sex with you. Or you can pay for protection.
0:43.6	Damon West was a Division I college quarterback with this entire future ahead of him, but a meth addiction sent his life into a spiral that ended with a 65-year sentence inside the Texas prison system. Today, he's here to
0:55.9	tell the story of how it all went wrong and how he survived it. I grew up in Port Arthur, Texas,
1:04.0	which is down in southeast Texas, right where Louisiana and Texas touched on the Gulf Coast.
1:07.5	Little blue collar town, a little ref town, came from a great two-parent
1:11.2	home. My story, you know, the jury that heard my case, my case was on May 18, 2009.
1:19.9	So on May 18, 2009, the jury in my case, it's an organized crime case. I'm the ringleader
1:25.9	of a bunch of other meth addicts breaking in the houses all over Dallas. They call these burglaries the uptown burglaries. They called me the uptown burglar. The jury heard a story about Damon West, this guy that had it all. grew up in this little Southeast Texas town, came from a great two-parent home, you know, star quarterback in high school,
1:45.2	Division I college quarterback at University of North Texas. An injury derails my life in 2000,
1:51.1	uh, in 1996 against Texas A&M. I got injured and, uh, I never got to play college football
1:56.4	again. And after that injury, I started getting into drugs, cocaine, cocaine excessy but i was a functional addict
2:02.7	they heard about when i graduated college and i went off to work on you in the in the united
	...

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