NFL
Why is C.J. Stroud campaigning on behalf of prison reform?
In the midst of a phenomenal rookie season for the Houston Texans, CJ Stroud has grabbed headlines with his calls for prison reform.
CJ Stroud is in the middle of a phenomenal rookie season with the Houston Texans. Leading the franchise to the Divisional Round, the Ohio State product has taken advantage of his platform to call for prison reform in the US.
It is a theme that hits close to home for Stroud. When he was just 13 years old, his father, Coleridge Bernard Stroud III, pled guilty to charges of carjacking, kidnapping, robbery, evading an officer with reckless driving and misdemeanor sexual battery. A repeat offender, Stroud’s father was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
For the better part of a decade, Stroud wanted nothing to do with his father. Raised by his mother along with his three siblings, Stroud has remained grounded and focused on bettering himself. Now, he has reached a high that is beyond the dreams of most people on this planet and Stroud is using his platform to call for change.
Stroud speaks out about the poor conditions some inmates have to endure, including “rats, roaches” and the state of the criminal justice system in general. Now on better terms with his father, Stroud says that it is not only his family’s case in question, but the entire system.
“I didn’t want to make this public, but 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. I think just letting it be known that it’s not just my dad’s situation, but the whole criminal justice system is corrupt.”
Stroud’s mother says of him, “He had a choice when his father went away. He was going to let that motivate him and be the best or he was going to succumb to it and become a statistic of a kid whose parent did something they shouldn’t. I sit and I’m amazed at how resilient he is. C.J. is the most amazing human I have ever met.”
Stroud is quick to point out that he is not saying that criminals shouldn’t go to jail. “Don’t get me wrong, you make a mistake and if it’s criminal or whatever the case may be at, you should have to pay it back,” says Stroud. “Whatever crime you commit, you have to reap the consequences for that. But at the same time, these are still people.”