Cincinnati Bengal Demetrius Knight Delivers Touching Story From South Carolina Days

Former South Carolina Gamecock Demetrius Knight delivered a touching story after being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals.

The 2025 NFL draft wrapped up this past weekend, and linebacker Demetrius Knight was one of several South Carolina Gamecocks to be selected during the seven rounds. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Knight in the second round of the draft.

A few years ago, being selected in the NFL draft held a lot more weight for some of these athletes. It would be the first time in their careers that they would be compensated for their efforts on the field, however, NIL sort of changed that. Not for Knight though.

After being drafted, Knight told a story about how he used to doordash after football games during his time as a college athlete to help provide for his wife and daughter.

“My wife and I had our first baby in Charlotte,” Knight said. “She was only a couple months old, and we were not making very much at Charlotte, being a smaller school.”

Knight proceeded to explain that every dime he made off of NIL during his college years was being spent on rent. That's when Knight decided to start door-dashing to help pay for other necessities for his wife and their daughter.

“I asked my wife how much was in the account, and it wasn’t enough to get us something to eat, so I had to go out in the Jeep Compass and make some deliveries,” he said. “I had to do what had to be done.”

Knight went on tell a story about how after a game against Navy back in 2022, he went home to put his daughter to sleep and then hopped in his car to start delivering food. Knight finished the game with a team-high seven tackles.

"There's no easy, quick ways to make money when you're playing football,” he said.

Knight started his college career at Georgia Tech and then after a couple of seasons, decided to transfer to Charlotte. After a breakout season in 2023, Knight was able to transfer to South Carolina. Knight said it was one of the easier decisions he has had to make.

“For some of us in the portal and people like me that are at smaller schools, that's what life is like, where we're struggling to make ends meet,” Knight said. “So when we get an opportunity to hop in the portal after having a great season to go somewhere to help better our lives or, in my case, help my family, it's a decision that has to be made."

Knight now prepares to take on the professional football league with a new team, and will be earning a well deserved check in the process of doing so.