Missouri's Damon Wilson makes donation to youth football program in hometown using NIL dollars

Before Damon Wilson was a five-star recruit, he began his football journey at the youth level in his hometown of Venice, Fla. He went on to play college football at Georgia before transferring to Missouri this year.

As he prepares for his first season in Columbia, Wilson saw an opportunity to give back. Using his NIL dollars, he donated to his hometown Pop Warner program.

Wilson made a donation to the Venice Vikings youth team, vowing to match donations made during a fundraising drive which brought in more than $6,000. He also previously donated to the Venice high school program, where he developed into a five-star recruit and a Top-20 player from the 2022 cycle.

Between the two, Wilson’s donations totaled more than $10,000, per the St Louis Post-Dispatch. The former highly rated recruit said it’s part of his goal to give back using the NIL money he’s earning in the SEC and remembering where it all started.

“NIL is not going anywhere,” Wilson told the Post-Dispatch. “It’s probably gonna be here forever. Just starting a cycle of athletes who come back and give back to their community and to their local Pop Warner or youth football team, because we were all kids at one point who played football. That’s just what we’re meant to do.”

Wilson – who has a $989,000 On3 NIL Valuation – spent two years at Georgia and turned in his most productive season in 2024. He totaled 22 tackles, including six tackles for loss and three sacks, while adding two fumble recoveries across 14 games.

Following his sophomore campaign, Wilson entered the transfer portal and came in as the No. 7-ranked player to hit the open market this past cycle, according to the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings. He announced his commitment to Missouri in January and is set to take his first snaps with the Tigers next month.

But even before his Mizzou debut, Damon Wilson said he wants to join the group of college football stars giving back through NIL. While it’s not always possible, he pointed out more players across the sport are making donations with their dollars.

“I just hope they’re able to see what I can do,” Wilson said. “Not everybody has the ability (to donate NIL earnings) because other people might be trying to take care of their family or other situations like that. Some people aren’t in the position to donate a large amount. But if they are, I feel like a lot of people in college football are kind of trending towards that and trying to better their own communities.

“That’s one thing that a lot of college football teams talk about: giving back to your community instead of just taking, taking, taking, taking all the time.”