# The D1 Quarterback Who Got 65 Years in Prison: Best-Selling Author Damon West Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-show-6506871/the-d1-quarterback-who-got-65-years-in-prison-best-selling-author-damon-west Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-show-6506871/the-d1-quarterback-who-got-65-years-in-prison-best-selling-author-damon-west.md Podcast: [The Resilient Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-show-6506871) Published: 2026-05-04T10:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/resilientshow/episodes/The-D1-Quarterback-Who-Got-65-Years-in-Prison-Best-Selling-Author-Damon-West-e3ir3qk Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO3651040322.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-resilient-show-6506871/episodes/the-d1-quarterback-who-got-65-years-in-prison-best-selling-author-damon-west Duration seconds: 7227 ## Resource Damon West had it all, he was a Division I starting quarterback at North Texas, Wall Street stockbroker at UBS, a Congressional staffer who once worked for a presidential campaign. Then one hit of crystal meth in a UBS parking garage destroyed everything. Eighteen months later he was homeless, leading a burglary crew, dubbed "The Uptown Burglar" by Dallas police. A jury deliberated for 10 minutes before sentencing him to 65 years in a Texas maximum-security prison. This is the story of how he got out and how a Muslim career criminal named Muhammad in a Dallas County jail cell handed him the message that became a Wall Street Journal bestseller: "Be a coffee bean." In this episode, Damon West sits down with Chad Robichaux to walk through the entire journey: the moment meth hooked him on the first hit, the SWAT raid that "rescued" him, the brutal first two months on Building 7 with 432 lifers, the parole interview that turned on a single word, and the email he received from a victim, the fiancée of a Marine killed in Iraq, whose forgiveness set him free. If you've ever wondered whether rock bottom can become a foundation, this one is for you. GET DAMON'S BOOKS: https://damonwest.org/shop/ - The Coffee Bean (with John Gordon) - Wall Street Journal bestseller, translated into 30+ languages: - Six Times in a Nickel - Damon's full memoir + life principles Signed copies available to Patreon members, join now to enter the giveaway: https://patreon.com/TheResilientShow CONNECT WITH DAMON WEST Website: https://damonwest.org GET CHAD'S NEW BOOK Riptide (Silent Horizon Series, Book 2) - pre-order now, releasing May 12: https://www.tyndale.com/p/riptide/9781496488756 —— Stay up-to-date with all things Resilient by subscribing to our Resilient Times News… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-resilient-show-6506871/episodes/the-d1-quarterback-who-got-65-years-in-prison-best-selling-author-damon-west/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-resilient-show-6506871/the-d1-quarterback-who-got-65-years-in-prison-best-selling-author-damon-west.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.