Zonovan "Bam" Knight (born April 11, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

High school career

Knight attended

Southern Nash High School Southern Nash High School is a public high school in Bailey, North Carolina. It is one of four high schools in Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools and has the second-largest enrollment of the four. History Southern Nash High School was created by t ...

Bailey, North Carolina Bailey is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 566 at th2020 census Histor ...

. During his high school career, he had a school record 5,073 rushing yards and 71

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He committed to

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at NC State in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Knight started seven games and led the team with 745 yards on 136 carries with five touchdowns. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, he again led the team with 788 yards on 143 carries with 10 touchdowns. He returned to NC State as the starter in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Professional career

New York Jets

Knight signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 6, 2022. He made the Jets' initial 53 man roster on August 30, 2022. He was waived on September 5. He was re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 25. Knight made his NFL debut on November 27 against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, where he set a new franchise record with 103 yards from scrimmage in his debut, including 69 rushing yards. He was waived on August 28, 2023.

Detroit Lions

On August 30, 2023, Knight was signed to the

practice squad. On September 19, 2023, Knight was signed to the active roster.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

New York Jets bioNC State Wolfpack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Zonovan 2001 births Living people People from Nash County, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football running backs NC State Wolfpack football players New York Jets players Detroit Lions players