NEW DELHI: Houston Texans rookie quarterback CJ Stroud had a remarkable Sunday, guiding his team to a last-minute victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, when he addressed the reporters at the podium, it wasn’t just the victory and his achievement of setting a rookie record for the most passing yards in a single game that he wanted to discuss.
Stroud seized the opportunity to shed light on his father, Coleridge Bernard Stroud III, who remains incarcerated.His father received a sentence of 38 years to life after pleading guilty in 2016 to charges related to carjacking, kidnapping, and robbery in a drug-related incident.
“What I’ve been battling with is trying to still be a family man, still help out, and still be a football player and do my job,” Stroud said. “It’s been tough.”
Stroud, who has previously been vocal about his faith, has leaned on a robust network of family and friends for support, even though his father may never witness him play. He expressed his hope and prayers that his father might have the opportunity to attend a game at NRG Stadium one day.
Coleridge Stroud III has been incarcerated since CJ was in middle school and is presently serving his sentence at Folsom State Prison near Sacramento. Initially, he had reservations about speaking out publicly, but he was motivated to speak up in support of his father and others behind bars.
“Our criminal justice system isn’t right, and it’s something that I need to probably be a little more vocal about, because what he’s going through is not right,” CJ Stroud said. “He called me this week, and we got to talk, and I’m praying for the situation and a reform, and the people with reform are helping me a little bit.
“But, I think just letting it be known that it’s not just my dad’s situation, but the whole criminal justice system is corrupt.”
The quarterback also expressed his distress at witnessing videos depicting deplorable conditions in Mississippi prisons.
“Some of the prisons there have rats, roaches and things like that,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong — criminals, they should do their time, but they’re still humans, know what I mean? I just want to shine a light on that really quick.”
(Via Fox News)
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