HOUSTON – Inside the lobby of the Houston Roughnecks team hotel Friday evening, Damon Arnette Jr. contemplated the question, smiling while reflecting on his extremely complicated journey back to playing professional football again.
Why should an NFL team invest in him and ultimately trust the former Las Vegas Raiders first-round draft pick and starting cornerback with an opportunity? Several NFL teams have already been in touch with the Roughnecks to make inquiries about Arnette.
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“I’m 28 years old right now with three kids, with a mom and dad that loves me and has my back right now,” Arnette told KPRC 2 following community event where he read to and encouraged students at the Houston Public Library. “With coaches, I feel like I’ve proved a complete turnaround. All the coaches that have been with me right now, I feel like their words would be more valuable because I’ve said a lot of things in the past. What I would say is what they see on film, that’s me being out of commission for three years,
“I’m a dawg on the field. I’m more of a professional now than I ever was before. I wasn’t a professional before. I was just a dawg. I found professionalism and a calm state of mind. I feel like I’m the best version of myself that I’ve ever been.”
For Arnette, his path to playing and excelling for the Roughnecks has involved a major reordering of his life after hitting rock bottom personally and professionally because of a series of legal and personal issues. A father of two daughters and one son, Arnette expressed gratitude to Roughnecks coach Curtis Johnson and UFL executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston for granting him a second chance after informing him a year ago he wouldn’t be allowed to play in the league.
A year ago, the answer was a firm no when Arnette sought a chance to play in the UFL. The answer changed, he believes, because he displayed maturity and determination.
“One, I had to take a look in the mirror,” Arnette said. “I had to make some serious life changes. And the main thing that I did was I invited back my support system, my foundation, and that’s probably something I will never let go of again because I see how dangerous it is to be trying to navigate in a new world, new environment, new situations with no experience. So, I definitely learn from that end. I said to coach Johnston, I needed him to tell me no, that I couldn’t play.
“That hurt my heart, you know what I’m saying? Because I’m thinking I’m doing everything right, but obviously I wasn’t because things just kept happening and I had nobody to blame but myself. I’m always thankful for coach C.J. and coach Johnston. It was just a blessing to be here."
From the standpoint of Johnston and the league, they wanted to be assured that Arnett was truly ready for this second chance.
Once Johnston performed his due diligence, his confidence grew in Arnette that he could be counted on. Now, he’s feeling great about the decisions on his status this year and a year ago.
“I think the big thing last year is he wasn’t separated far enough from it for us, he had another little bump in the road,” Johnston said in a telephone interview. “I thought he made a great decision last year. If you want this opportunity, we’re going to give you time to show you deserve it. The first time I met him, his appearance even, you see a completely different Damon Arnette. Very professional. He was remorseful for everything that happened. When I talked to everybody in his family, to every coach on his football journey to people I knew in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area who were mentoring him, everybody I talked to said he was genuinely changed and had a real honest sense of remorse. I asked everybody what happened to him. They said it was perfect timing. You get a first-round contract and you allow all the wrong people to come into your life and you walk away from the right people. The hardest lesson he had to learn.
“From the people I talk to in Houston, they all talk about his growth, his involvement in the community. He’s understanding the message. We talk to all of our players in Damon’s situation there’s an issue or reason why the NFL isn’t allowing them back in or will challenge them to earn their way back in. When we dig into that one thing it’s you have to be professional in everything you do. The football part is the easy part. He’s a first-round draft pick. Why are you here with us? It’s the little things. It’s being accountable, It’s being on time. It’s understanding the priorities every day. Athletic ability will only take you so far. Your knowledge and passion for the game has to be present every day. That’s what will allow us to say when the NFL asks us about Damon Arnette and what our thoughts are on him, about his growth as a man. In the NFL, they won’t wait for you. They will just move on. You need to not just be a good football player, you need to be a good man.”
Against the Birmingham Stallions last week, Arnette, 28, displayed the talent and skills that made him an NFL first-round draft pick. He adeptly read a sideline pass, undercutting the throw and scooted 51 yards into the end zone for his first touchdown since a 97-yard return against Indiana for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Arnette is making a strong bid for a potential second chance in the NFL, recording 14 solo tackles and ranking second on the team with five pass breakups.
He received a 90.2 Pro Football Focus pass coverage grade, the highest in the UFL a week ago.
The interception was emblematic of the potential Arnette holds and why Roughnecks secondary coach Brett Maxie, a former NFL defensive back, is confident in his ability to play in the NFL again.
“On that play, it was just a simple outside release, had good eye discipline,” Arnette said. “I was locked in on his hips. As soon as I seen he was about to dip to break down, I gave him a nudge, which caused him to step off balance, and slip out of bounds. And I just turned around and looked for the ball and it was right there. So, it was a good timing, you know what I’m saying? It was the right place at the right time, the rush was coming.
“He got the ball out quick. And I just happened to be there. It felt good. It reminded me of what it felt like to be a part of a team that cared about winning, that worked hard. Just to play the game, taken away from me for a little bit, so just being able to go out there and enjoy playing football again, it was a great feeling.”
DA with a house call 📞@Verizon pic.twitter.com/1o7qPEpo4h
— Houston Roughnecks (@XFLRoughnecks) May 13, 2025
Selected 19th overall by Las Vegas in 2020 out of Ohio State, Arnette was released on Nov. 8, 2021 after a video surfaced of the former Buckeyes standout brandishing firearms and making death threats. Although Arnette has had a brief stints with the Miami Dolphins on a practice squad that year, he wasn’t signed to a new deal when his contract expired after the season.
His last NFL game was in 2021 with the Raiders, appearing in 13 career games overall and recording 29 tackles, one for a loss and three passes defensed.
He was signed to a reserve-future deal by the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 20, 2022, but was released just nine days late because of an arrest for assault with a deadly weapon charges, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and two counts of possession of controlled substances in Las Vegas. Initially, no criminal charges were filed. Roughly a year later, a grand jury indicted him and Arnette agreed to a plea bargain and received 50 hours of community service and $2,000 in fines.
Arnette has stayed out of trouble with the law over the past year, following an arrest for possession of methamphetamine and unlawful carrying of a firearm in January of 2024 in Richardson, Texas, a Dallas suburb. Arnette’s lawyers released a statement explaining that he was unable to provide law enforcement with his legal prescription for medication at the time and wouldn’t been arrested for either charge if he had the documentation with him at the time.
Why has Arnette had so many issues? His explanation: It’s complicated, but primarily goes back to needing to grow up and be consistent in his actions as he navigated life, football and mental health during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Just being an amateur to life, I like to look at myself as being protected and sheltered a lot because of football and when I got into the professional world we had Covid and certain things going on that didn’t allow certain leadership to take control of me, which again I should have control of myself and I should have my foundation, my support system around which was my doing of not having it,” Arnette said. “And then the world’s doing Covid, it was just bad timing. I learned a lot, though. Me being where I am now, I wouldn’t change anything because who I am today right now I feel like I needed literally needed to go through everything that I went through to be as wise as I feel like I am right now."
The focus, and the appreciation for the game, that’s coming naturally to Arnette. He doesn’t want to think too far ahead about the NFL. His responsibility he holds right now is lining up for the Roughnecks.
“It’s easy for me to stay in the moment because. I had to work so hard to get here,” Arnette said. “Just being able to play football again on any level. is the best opportunity and best gift that God could have rewarded me with with all the right decisions that I feel like I’ve been making. I didn’t want anything but a Gatorade squirt bottle and a helmet. When I talked to coach CJ, when he said that I can finally come back. I was like, ‘Man, I just want a Gatorade bottle. I haven’t used a Gatorade Squirt bottle in a long time.’
“It’s just the little things about the game that you miss the most, that you take for granted. So, it’s easy for me to stay in the moment, That’s all I’m thinking about right now, is this game and then the game after that, and the game after that. I want to win this whole thing for coach CJ because I just feel like I’m a part of this family right now and this is the only thing that matters to me.”
By stacking days, games and performances, Arnette is hopeful that he’ll receive another opportunity. He is eligible to do so. It’s up to whether another NFL team will ultimately give him a chance.
“I am so proud of Damon,” veteran agent Steve Weinberg said. “He easily could have fallen off the radar. Instead, he’s worked extra hard to turn his life around to where NFL teams should notice.
“He’ll be a free agent in two weeks, eligible to sign with an NFL team in time for veteran minicamps in June. As NFL teams know, corners are like pitchers in baseball, you can never have enough cornerbacks.”
Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, Arnette’s coach in Las Vegas, remains a supporter. They talk frequently, including before the last game when he intercepted a pass.
“Yeah, I reach out, we reach out to each other often,” Arnette said. “You know, that’s my guy, and he loves me. He’s never left my side. And his words of wisdom, each week I call him before the games and stuff, and one thing he said to me before last week’s games that he wanted to see uncommon effort.
“I took it as is and he hasn’t seen it from me yet in the league. So going into last week’s game, I had like an extra kick of motivation hearing it from him because I was trying to make him proud.”
Over the past three years, Arnette has received considerable guidance and legal representation from award-winning attorney Daniel Moskowitz, who’s extremely proud of the progress he’s witnessed on and off the field from the former NFL player.
“It’s been very simple: Damon just needed to be Damon and everything else would fall into place,” Moskowitz said.
As a father of three, Arnette is extremely motivated to provide for his children and give them emotional and financial security. It’s a driving force for the Dallas native.
“Yeah, because my kids deserve everything that I’m able to offer them and they didn’t ask to be here,” Arnette said. “They’re innocent and they’re my responsibility. So, if I have the ability or the potential to provide them with a life that I never had, it’s my job to give it to them.”
Arnette said he found something else throughout his twisted path back to professional football: his spirituality and faith.
“Yeah, my faith in God is unbelievable because even when things were bad, He was always there for me,” Arnette said. “God, I strayed away and I found myself on my knees one night I had to realize that I had take steps forward myself, that nobody was going to pull me out of anything. So, once I started making the right decisions, then I started seeing the blessings that were always there.”
Maxie has seen a lot of positive signs from Arnette, on and off the field. He said that Arnette is one of the first players to arrive for work, typically by 6 a.m. every day.
“Right now I’m seeing what I anticipated,” Maxie said. “When I knew he was going to be a part of our team, he’s a former first-round draftee, and that’s what a former first-round draft pick is. They make plays very confidently. And he’s an unbelievably talented athlete. He’s doing all the right things to put himself in position to get back to the NFL. And he belongs there. He really belongs there. He’s one of the first guys in the building because I’m like the first guy in the building, he’s the first player I see every morning.
"I see great things happening for him after this season. I’m certainly pulling for him in every direction that I possibly can. He’s been first-class. He’s gonna earn it. And I think he’s going to appreciate it more now than he did four years ago after he was drafted. We all have our seasons in our lives. He’s going to benefit from the things he’s learning now. He’s been around good people. Not very many people get a second chance. And he’s doing it at the right age where he’s still athletically gifted and plays the position at a very, very high level."
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
