Dallas Cowboys

Here's what life in prison is like for Joseph Randle

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:44 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

Joseph Randle’s fall from Cowboys starting tailback to prison inmate happened quickly enough that you might have missed it.

"Whatever happened to Joseph Randle?"—Sports Illustrated’s look inside Randle’s complicated saga—examines his past and present, his struggles and fluctuating moods, and a mysterious pattern of behavior that led to a premature end to his promising NFL career.

With Randle set to go to trial on Jan. 9 for four different cases, having spent 10 months in jail, here’s a quick look at his experience to date.

From Dan Greene’s story:

The life Joseph returned to has been a turbulent one. He was held for most of the summer in an “agg pod” for aggravated offenders, where inmates are housed individually. Among his pod mates have been men charged with capital murder, kidnapping and rape of the mentally deficient. His family relays stories, passed on from fellow inmates, of Randle’s having been picked on by guards, though they declined to put SI in touch with their sources. (SI was unable to corroborate these claims independently.)

One guard, who spoke anonymously, says Randle is “very known” among the staff. “When he came in, it was like, Holy s---, that’s Joseph Randle.” Another guard recalls being told by a colleague that one day during linen exchange, Randle “came out like a running back and grabbed [the linens]. He turned around and said, ‘I just wanna see if I still got it.’ ”

Not every interaction inside has been so friendly. Randle has spent multiple stints in disciplinary detention, remaining in his cell for 23 hours at a time. It was during one of these periods in May when a guard denied Randle’s requests to make a phone call. According to the guard’s court testimony, Randle told him over an intercom, “I swear on my life and everything that I have, I will kill you when I get out,” resulting in a felony criminal threat charge. In a separate July incident, Randle ripped a TV from a wall and was charged with criminal property damage. Randle declined an opportunity to speak with SI while in prison.

Read the full story here.