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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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)#Offense ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subd ...

Early life

Knight attended Southern Nash High School in

Bailey, North Carolina Bailey is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 566 at th2020 census History The Morgan School was listed on the National Register ...

. 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. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He committed to

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

to play

College career

As a true freshman at NC State in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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

2020 The year 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 even ...

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

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Professional career

New York Jets (first stint)

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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 In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, 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

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) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

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

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on October 14. On August 27, 2024, Knight was released by the Lions.

New York Jets (second stint)

On November 26, 2024, Knight was signed to the New York Jets' practice squad.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 7, 2025, Knight signed a reserve/future contract with the

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals 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 Arizona Cardinals players