Bam is a good nickname for an NFL running back, so it fits Zonovan Knight. Yet given that it was given to him when he was a baby, it really was only a majestic coincidence. Or maybe just fate.
Knight was in his playpen one day and, as his mother has told him, his uncle walked by and said, "Damn, all you hear is bam, bam, bam." That family nickname grew into a football nickname.
"I guess it's easier to pronounce than Zonovan," Knight said.
Why wouldn't it stick for a burgeoning battering ram? When he created his high school highlight page on Hudl, he put "Zonovan Bam Knight," and as a highly recruited player, that helped it grow too. When he scored his first career touchdown, he heard "Wolfpack touchdown, Zonovan Bam Knight." It had stuck.
Knight has also stuck with the Cardinals. The running backs room already had James Conner and Trey Benson atop the depth chart. They had Emari Demercado as a good third-down back. They had DeeJay Dallas as a special teams ace. And even veteran Michael Carter, who had been Knight's teammate for a time with the Jets, was ahead in the pecking order.
When Knight earned a 53-man roster spot out of the preseason ahead of Dallas and Carter, it might've been the biggest surprise of final cuts. Even to Knight.
"Going into it, I had the mindset of everyone else," Knight said. "I thought DeeJay was a solidified guy because he was a solidified special teamer. Everybody thought it. I had confidence in myself, so I just went into camp thinking, 'I've been cut the previous two years, two unfortunate down years' so I went into it like I had nothing to lose."
His preseason work was capped by a 67-yard TD run in the last game that grabbed attention and that roster spot. He still wasn't sure how much he'd play, but injuries changed the equation.
Knight had the most snaps of any running back against the Colts and has scored touchdowns in each of the last two games.
As for the names, Zonovan is a family theme – his brothers are named Zamani and Zavion.
But as long as you call him an NFL running back, you can call either Zonovan or Bam.
"I think they both fit me well," he said.
