Status: In Progress (Comments/Suggestions Welcomed)
Rikers Island Jail Football Program
Still Hope for Rikers Football? “The Warden” Thinks so!
(September 13th, 2007) It’s been a year today since the last of “The Jailhouse” burned to the ground, officially terminating the dream of Rikers football, or so we thought…. A lot of things have changed over the course of this year at Rikers Jail, namely, “The Warden.”
Elwood Jenkins came to power as the warden of Rikers Island Jail Complex in December of 2006. Jenkins refers to himself as “The Warden” due to his decorated 58 years of service as warden of a multitude of prisons and jails across the Northeast United States. Now 76 years of age, “The Warden” promised big things would come to Rikers Island.
“The Warden” pulled every connection he had in state government to hear him out on his case to revive the Rikers Island football program. After months of treading water, the movement seems to be gaining momentum. The city could vote to reinstate the program and begin construction on a new dome. “The Warden” would have to crunch the numbers and prepare a tremendous presentation to revive such a costly program.
While it is a long shot, “The Warden’s” tireless work has given hope back to those who were excited for Rikers Island Football, the inmates.
Long time inmate, Fu Fu Brown, expressed her displeasure for the cancellation of the football program last year in a letter. In this letter, Brown stated that she had torn her ACL attempting to do a cartwheel for the cheerleading tryouts for the Football team. Brown also states that her drive to be on the squad caused her to bust out of the medical ward and attempt it again during the tryout period. Brown broke both wrists in this attempt. After being rushed back to the medical ward, Brown was informed that she would receive added time to her sentence for breaking out of the medical ward. Brown didn’t worry because she really was excited about the team. However, once it got cancelled, Brown was outraged and all of the injuries, recovery time, and added jail time were for nothing.
The rest of Fu Fu’s letter was omitted due to threating content including threats to shank whoever decided to cancel it. However, Fu Fu was seen today on our walk around the jail smiling and waving as the news came out that there was once again hope for the Rikers Island football team.
It’s always great to see hope in such a charming woman’s eyes….
Elwood Jenkins came to power as the warden of Rikers Island Jail Complex in December of 2006. Jenkins refers to himself as “The Warden” due to his decorated 58 years of service as warden of a multitude of prisons and jails across the Northeast United States. Now 76 years of age, “The Warden” promised big things would come to Rikers Island.
“The Warden” pulled every connection he had in state government to hear him out on his case to revive the Rikers Island football program. After months of treading water, the movement seems to be gaining momentum. The city could vote to reinstate the program and begin construction on a new dome. “The Warden” would have to crunch the numbers and prepare a tremendous presentation to revive such a costly program.
While it is a long shot, “The Warden’s” tireless work has given hope back to those who were excited for Rikers Island Football, the inmates.
Long time inmate, Fu Fu Brown, expressed her displeasure for the cancellation of the football program last year in a letter. In this letter, Brown stated that she had torn her ACL attempting to do a cartwheel for the cheerleading tryouts for the Football team. Brown also states that her drive to be on the squad caused her to bust out of the medical ward and attempt it again during the tryout period. Brown broke both wrists in this attempt. After being rushed back to the medical ward, Brown was informed that she would receive added time to her sentence for breaking out of the medical ward. Brown didn’t worry because she really was excited about the team. However, once it got cancelled, Brown was outraged and all of the injuries, recovery time, and added jail time were for nothing.
The rest of Fu Fu’s letter was omitted due to threating content including threats to shank whoever decided to cancel it. However, Fu Fu was seen today on our walk around the jail smiling and waving as the news came out that there was once again hope for the Rikers Island football team.
It’s always great to see hope in such a charming woman’s eyes….