CJ Stroud slams America’s ‘criminal justice system’ amid his father’s imprisonment - “What he's going through is not right”

CJ Stroud has become some sort of boon in Houston. Recently, he has criticized the country's justice system, with his father serving 38 years in a Californian prison for multiple offenses.

Stroud is more than a competitor on the field. He has also been some sort of justice advocate, and he can strongly relate to it.

On Sunday, the Houston Texans beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 39-37 in a very entertaining shootout. Stroud threw for five touchdowns, two of them to fellow rookie Tank Dell. In the post-game presser, he focused on his civic platform, where he said about his dad:

"I didn't wanna make this public, man, but our criminal justice system isn't right. It's something that I need to probably be a little more vocal about, because what he's going through is not right. I'm praying for the situation.

"It's not just my dad's situation, but the whole criminal justice system is corrupt. Some of the prisons have rats and roaches and things like that. And don't get me wrong: criminals, they should pay their time, but they're still humans."

After struggling for two years without Deshaun Watson, the six-time AFC South champion Texans were gifted the second overall pick of 2023.

They used it to bring in the Ohio State prospect as their quarterback of the future. So far, CJ Stroud has been decent, going a record 192 passes before being picked - and even that interception was dropped and converted into a recovery for +2 yards.

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CJ Stroud looking forward to matchup vs Joe Burrow, Bengals

The Houston Texans' next game returns CJ Stroud to familiar ground: Ohio, where he established himself in college with the Buckeyes. However, it's different this time: he and his team are visiting the Cincinnati Bengals, who have regained some ground after a shockingly poor start.

After Wednesday's practice, he said he was excited to know what the reaction to his "homecoming" would be:

"Yeah, man. I'm excited. I know it'll be a couple Ohio State fans there, maybe.

"But they'll probably be booing me that day, so it is what it is, and I'm excited to go back to Ohio and play. I wish it was a little colder. [laughs] Nah, I'm happy it's not cold. But yeah, for sure, I'm excited."

CJ Stroud also revealed his admiration of Joe Burrow:

"(He) is someone that I respect a lot. I was a big fan of his, especially when he was at LSU, and then of course, he was at Ohio State, so we have that kind of similarity. ... He's having a great season so far – definitely think he's an MVP in this league.

"He's a hell of a leader and a really good person – somebody that only isn't looking out for himself. He shot me a text over the year congratulating me on some of the success and things like that, gave me some advice and things like that. ... I'm excited to lineup against him and compete against those guys."

The Texans-Bengals game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.