PORT NECHES — The badge of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate flashed during a slideshow behind one of the tables at Benton’s.

It was that of Damon West.

More than two years ago, the former Thomas Jefferson High School and North Texas quarterback was released from state prison after serving 7 years and 3½ months of a 65-year sentence for organized criminal activity while battling a drug addiction.

Thursday night, West was the honoree at the Aurora-Golden Triangle Sertoma Club Service to Mankind Banquet, feted for his servant leadership through speaking with college football teams, prisoners and youth groups, among other organizations, about making good decisions and becoming an agent for change. More than 200 attended the dinner.

“God has opened a lot of doors for me,” West said.

His favorite example of such an agent is a coffee bean, which changes the color of water when it’s heated rather than softens like a carrot or hardens like an egg. West also has videos on YouTube where he often gets to interview people including head coaches from major-college football programs.

West said his speeches are tailored for each audience.

“If you have a bunch of junior high and high school kids, you can’t tell the same story you would to college football players about prison,” West said. “When I talk to college football teams, I tell them raw stories about prison, and they’re old enough to understand.”

In August, West spoke to the finalists of the College Football Playoffs in the 2015 and 2016 seasons — Alabama and Clemson. Alabama took back the title in January after defeating Georgia in overtime.

Video testimonies from coaches Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney and Kevin Sumlin were played at the beginning of the dinner.

In the past month, West has spoken to Florida State, where Willie Taggart replaced recent Texas A&M hire Jimbo Fisher as head coach, and North Carolina. He’ll visit the University of Texas and Texas Tech later this month.

Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said West’s message reaches her differently.

“Sometimes good people make bad choices,” Stephens said. “It helps keep me grounded in terms of running a correctional facility, and that translates into how we treat people at the facility. We’ve got to treat people fair.

“My job is to protect and serve, not just the people in the community, but the people in the correctional facility. Through all the education programs we bring them, they are able to turn their lives around.”

West, 43, works as a paralegal with the Provost Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont, spending his days on another side of the law. While in prison, he wrote to lawyer Walter Umphrey asking him for a response to a question about how the court of criminal appeals may make his chances of an early release tough.

He got the job after interviewing the morning after his release.
“He went through some really dark times,” West’s father Bob, a former sports editor at The News and current golf writer, said. “I think my favorite saying now is, ‘God moves in mysterious ways. He had a plan for Damon. [I] didn’t understand it at the time, but it’s so rewarding now to see the results of what he’s doing when he speaks to young kids. It’s an amazing high. It really is.”

Since then, in addition to his speaking engagements, he’s used his position to help organize a clothing drive for those impacted hard by Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey.

Damon West is one of the celebrity participants for the March 2 “Dancing With the Stars” ball at the Beaumont Civic Center, organized by the Junior League of Beaumont. Stephens is his dance partner.

“He’s pretty good,” she said. “He’s high energy. That keeps me motivated. He wants to win. He’s very competitive, and I’m very competitive. I’m actually a little harder because we don’t want to let each other down. We’re in it to win it.”

Sertoma, which stands for “service to mankind,” has honored an individual with the Service to Mankind Award annually since 1954. Past honorees include Umphrey, Sabine Pass Schools Superintendent Kristi Heid, late KFDM-TV anchor Bill Leger and Memorial High School assistant principal Dwight Wagner.

“To be in such august company of people, man, I was really blown away,” West said.

“I’m not this good to be here by myself. I had a lot of help along the way. The secret to life is servant leadership, serving others and being humble. By helping other people reach their goals, that’s how the universe works. You help other people achieve their goals and dreams, help them get to a different level in life where they can help someone in their world, too.”
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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews