Charles Flores
Appearances
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So much of living under death sentences is the unknown. You know, we're sent here, we were convicted and sentenced to death and sent to death row to have our lives taken from us, to be executed, you know, to be legally murdered. And that's pretty heavy, man.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Hello, hello. Can you hear me? Testing, testing. One, two, three. Can you hear me? Sound good?
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
I've taken pictures in the past. Und es ist meistens besser, den Telefon so runter zu legen, damit du den Telefon nicht sehen kannst. Okay.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Week 11.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So the way Death Row is, the population is... Es gibt mehr Jungs aus den großen Städten, den großen Städten. Es gibt also mehr Jungs aus Dallas und Houston als irgendwo anders. Das macht also viel mehr Fans von beiden Teams. An diesem Tag ist Fußball der Sport. Wir wachen auf, wenn wir darüber nachdenken. When the weekend starts, that's what we're talking about.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
And especially like a big game like that, a big rivalry. Because I don't know, man. It seems like that because the Texans have been up and down a lot of times. They seem to play the role of Der kleine Bruder. Weißt du, was ich meine? Sie wollen die Cowboys gewinnen. Sie gewinnen niemanden. Sie wollen die Cowboys gewinnen. Ich habe den Texan-Fans gesagt, wir werden nicht Freunde sein.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wir werden Rivalen sein.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Drei dieser Boote sind breit. Einer auf dieser Seite und einer auf dieser Seite. Es ist etwa neun Fuß groß.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Und die Türen, sie haben dieses Mesh, wo die Fenster geplant sind.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wir haben zwei, drei Fuß, ich glaube, es sind vier Inch. So we can stand at the door and we can talk. You know, it's not like normal conversational tones, but when we talk loud, we can hear each other. And of course, everybody's hollering when, you know, the kickoff starts and they make a big play or, you know, a big tackle or something like that. People are hollering and, yeah, interacting.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So, yeah, it's really cool.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
There are seven cells on the ground floor in a section, and then there are seven cells on two rows, on the second story. We call it one row and two rows. Okay. And in that area, there is a TV. It's a 35-inch TV, and it's from my cell, it's probably from here to that back wall. And one, two, three, four.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Vier Zellen, für den meisten Teil, können es auf einer Reihe beobachten, indem sie an der Tür stehen. Also, du stehst an der Tür und schaust durch die... Die Große. Ja, die Große. Die Große. Und so, ja, du weißt, wenn...
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wenn es viertes und drittes oder viertes und zehntes oder drittes und zehntes ist, glaubt mir, ihr seid auf der Bühne und schaut durch das kleine Diamant, um zu sehen, wer es ist. Okay, aber das sind vier Stunden. Ja, also, einige Leute stehen, andere machen eine Schicht. Wie? Okay, also, für mich, ich habe ziemlich viel legales Dokumentation, legales Papier.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
I just have it in mesh, nylon mesh bags. And I've made a chair that's about this big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I strategically put it at the door and I sit on it. I'll sit on it. But like I told you, when the kickoff is going to happen or something, you get up and you get close to the grid so you can see what's going on. So yeah.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Ich kann mich an die letzte Saison in den Playoffs erinnern. Wir dachten, die Cowboys würden gut spielen. Und dann kam Green Bay. Und sie haben nicht gut gespielt.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So believe me, the Texan fans were letting us have it. They were letting us have it and they were talking trash and they were laughing at us. They kept showing Dak and he was like a deer in the headlight. I'm just so mad, I could cuss. It's just like the same thing keeps happening. And believe me, the next week, when the Texans lost against the Ravens, I gave them the Blues.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Das ist das Wichtigste an Death Pen. Es ist so schwierig. Wir sind nicht das Schlimmste, was wir je gemacht haben. Bist du das Schlimmste, was du je gemacht hast? Weil ich weiß, dass du etwas gemacht hast, dass du... Wenn du darüber nachdenkst, wirst du weinen. Wir alle haben das gemacht. Jeder lebende Mensch hat so etwas gemacht. Also...
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Das ist, wofür sie hier sind, aber das ist nicht die Person, die ich kenne. Ich bin nicht diese Person, richtig? Und, und, also, für den meisten Teil, weißt du, die Leute, die Leute sind, die Leute sind ziemlich, ziemlich, ziemlich ruhig, du weißt, ziemlich, ziemlich niedrig. Und so gibt es nicht viel Friktion auf dem Tiefen. Nun, die generelle Bevölkerung ist anders.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Und wenn es ein paar Leute zusammen gibt, und dann wird es persönlich. Because somebody starts talking trash and they put it out, but they can't take it in. And then they get angry. And then once you get angry, well then you'll say something that you shouldn't say and they'll start fighting. So yeah, there is that element, but I think that's out there in the free world too.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Also, wir kommen auf. Ich komme um 8 Uhr auf. Und weil es ein großer Tag ist, machen wir eine Feast. Und wir machen Sachen aus den Items, die wir bei der Kommissarin kaufen können. Und also... Es könnte Nachos sein oder es könnte Tacos sein oder ein Spezial, wie Superbowl oder so etwas. Wir machen Enchiladas.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wir gehen zwei Mal pro Monat in den Kommissar. Also musst du die Sachen einen Monat vorher kaufen, um sicherzustellen, dass du alles brauchst, was du an diesem Tag brauchst. Wenn es Enchiladas sind, kochst du sie in deiner Zelle? Alles, was gemacht wird, ist vorgekocht. Also kaufst du Sachen. Beef tips and gravy. Summer sausages are also used. Chicken chili. And all these things are pre-cooked.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So they come in little like plastics pouches. And it's an intricate process. We have to put all these things in cleaned out plastic chip bags. And we heat them up. What we cook in is a hot pot. Which essentially looks like a einen elektrischen Kettel, der das Wasser aufheizt, richtig? Ja. Also, alles wird in Wasser in einem Plastikbacken aufheizt.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Und der Trick ist, alles zu vermischen und zusammenzuwärmen, um die Enschelade gut zu machen. Okay. Also, ich bin hier seit einiger Zeit und ja, ich kann ziemlich gut kochen. Deshalb bin ich fett.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Meistens war es von Woche zu Woche. Also abhängig von den Match-Ups würdet ihr ein neues Line-Up machen. Versteht ihr? Tom Brady spielt wer auch immer, also startet ihr Tom Brady. Und wenn es eine Zwei-Quarterback-Liga ist, wer auch immer es sein könnte. Und Rodgers, richtig? Richtig. Ezekiel Elliott hat einen guten Match-Up, also startest du ihn. Und dann, weißt du, du mischst und matchst.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Du mischst und matchst. Okay. Und also gab es keine Bedürfnisse, zusammen zu kommen und einen Draft zu haben. Aber was du tun musst, ist, dein Team einzusetzen, weil es einen Kommissionär gibt, der es runnt. Und er ist derjenige, der jedes Team bekommt. Und dann wird er, was wir Master Sheets nennen, kreieren. So, there's a deadline, you gotta turn them in by, you know, Friday at noon.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
He would slide the stuff out from the cells to the day rooms and then those guys would get the stuff and give it to another day room. And then that guy would tell the commissioner, hey man, I've got these teams out here. And then he would make his way out there with what we call a fishing line. And it's essentially like a long string that he'll slide to the day room and he'd pull them back in.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
And then the same way he would pass out the master sheet. Und es ist das Gleiche.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
I've been here literally 25 years. Before, there was no TV. So, it was all sports talk radio. And it was mostly AM. When you'd get the station, you would hope it stays in. So, that's where we would get our sports update. Because when you play fantasy football... If you don't know what's going on, you're just donating. You're just donating. You know what I'm saying?
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
You just might as well just give your money away. You know, we would have to wait on the newspaper. You got to wait on the newspaper to get the stats. Because, you know, you don't have the stats. You know, nowadays I know that as soon as the games are played, the stats are online. Right, right. But man, no, man, you know, people would be waiting for the newspaper.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
And then the commissioner, he would add it up. Because everything has to be official, right? Everybody's agreed that he... Ich habe so viele weitere Fragen.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
It gets to the point where him saying the most obvious thing that we all knew heading in is now the thing that is most jarring.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wir waren Fans. Wir haben es zu Hause gesehen. Natürlich haben wir es, als ich klein war, gesehen.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Ich hätte vielleicht gelebt... Aber am Wochenende gehe ich zu meinem Vaters Haus. Ich war immer mit ihm da und wir haben immer Fußball gespielt.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Das war eines der wichtigsten Dinge, über die wir gesprochen haben. Die Cowboys das, die Cowboys das. Sie haben immer noch die Fußballspiele zu Hause gespielt. Und es war das gleiche. Damals habe ich... I would wake up early and I would start a letter and a lot of times I would leave it. I would say half of what I wanted to say and then the game would be going.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
And then after the game I would have comments. And often times I would be writing my mom and my dad and they would be writing me at the same time. Und ich erinnere mich, dass ich um 4 Uhr geschrieben habe. Und dann habe ich gesehen, dass meine Mutter dieses Buch um 4 Uhr angefangen hat. Und das war die Synchronisierung von allem, richtig? Und ja, Mann, es war speziell. Es gibt nichts wie das.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Also, wie gesagt, ich denke, ich denke, Fandom ist auch Teil der Familie, weil es Teil dieser Verbindung ist, die wir haben.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
So viel von dem Leben unter Todessentenzen ist unbekannt. Wir wurden hier gesendet, We were convicted and sentenced to death and sent to death row. To have our lives taken from us. To be executed, you know? To be legally murdered. And that's pretty heavy, man. You hang your hopes on appeal courts and on things that...
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Es kann passieren, dass es dir ermöglicht, eine Rückwirkung zu haben in deiner Vergewaltigung oder in deiner Entschuldigung und vielleicht aus dieser Situation rauszukommen. Das ist ziemlich stressig. Und manche Jungs können es nicht nehmen. Manche Jungs verlieren ihre Gedanken. Ich hatte einen Freund meines Namens, wir nannten ihn Big G. Er war von Oak Cliff in Dallas.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Wir nannten ihn Big G für einen Grund. Er war etwa 6'5, ungefähr 300 Kilo. Es sah so aus, als würde er für die Cowboys einen offensiven Tackle spielen. Einer Tag hat er mir gesagt, er meinte, was, wenn wir es falsch haben? Er meinte, was, wenn die verrückten Jungs normal sind, weil sie es nicht können?
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Und wir sind die verrückten Leute, weil wir es können, uns zu adaptieren und diese Insanität zu akzeptieren. Und ich habe das nie vergessen. Weil das eine normale Reaktion sein würde. Ja, dass sie dich töten werden. Und dass du 10 oder 15 Jahre sitzen wirst, bis sie es tun. Sport für mich, besonders Fußball, bringt mich aus diesem Ort. Wenn das Spiel losgeht, bin ich im Stadion.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
I'm like, man, will I ever see the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl? Because that's my thing.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Okay, nobody beat him. Do you have a prediction? Yeah, this is their year, no matter what. Every year is their year.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
You gotta believe, bro. You gotta believe, huh? You gotta believe.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
Ich habe versucht, darüber nachzudenken. Ich habe versucht zu sagen, warum würde jemand das sagen? Und ich denke, es ist das. Ich denke, es könnte mein letzter Angriff sein. Hey, ich bin immer noch Teil, wenn nichts anderes. Ich bin immer noch Teil dieser Familie. Ich bin immer noch relevant in der Tatsache, dass, auch wenn ich aus dieser Leben, dieser Realität ausgesucht werde,
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row (PTFO Peabody Award Finalist)
I'm still a cowboy fan. And I'm gonna declare it at the very end with, you know, reminding the world of what tribe I was from. I'm still human. Even though you're taking my life like an animal, I'm still human. I have a soul. And that's deep, man. That's profound.
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
The first thing I remember is when I looked out the window And I saw a car pulled up into the driveway. I remember it was a BW Bug. And I remember seeing two guys get out. And I remember looking at the passenger as he got out and remembering his dark hair, but basically the same as the driver's.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Hello, hello, can you hear me? Testing, testing, one, two, three. Can you hear me? Sound good?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I've taken pictures in the past. And it's usually better to put the phone down like this so you don't see that phone like right next to your ear. So if you want, you can just let them both hang down.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So the way death row is, the population is its population. There's more guys from the big cities, the big counties. So there are more guys from Dallas and Houston than anywhere else. So that makes for a lot more fans of both teams. So on that day, football is the sport. We wake up thinking about it. You know, when the... When the weekend starts, that's what we're talking about.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And especially a big game like that, a big rivalry. Because I don't know, man. It seems like that because the Texans have been up and down a lot of times. They seem to play the role of... The little brother, you know what I'm saying? And so they want to get, they want to beat the Cowboys. You know, they don't beat nobody else. They want to beat the Cowboys.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And I've been telling the guys, the Texan fans, I'm like, you know, on that day, we're not going to be friends. We're going to be rivals, you know what I'm saying?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
three of these booths wide. One on this side and one on this side. So it's about nine foot.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And the doors, they have this mesh where windows are supposed to be. We have two, three foot, I think it's four inches.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
openings in in the in the door so we can stand at the door and we can talk you know it's not like normal conversational tones but when we when we talk loud we can hear each other and of course everybody's hollering and when when uh you know the kickoff starts and they make a big play or you know big tackle or something like that people people are hollering and yeah interacting so yeah it's
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
There are seven cells on the ground floor in a section, and then there's seven cells on two row, on the second story. We call it one row and two row. Okay. And in that area, there's a TV. It's a 35-inch TV, and it's from my cell. It's probably from here to that back wall. And one, two, three, four. Four cells, for the most part, are able to watch it on one roll by standing at the door.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So you stand at the door and you look through... The grate. Yes, the grate. The grate. So, yeah, you know, when... When it's fourth and three or fourth and ten, third and ten, you know, believe me, you're up at the grate and you're looking through that little diamond to make sure you can see, you know, whoever. Okay, but that's four hours you're standing. Yes, so some people stand.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Other people will make a makeshift chair. How? Okay, so like for me, I have quite a bit of legal documentation, legal paperwork. Okay. And I just have it in mesh, nylon mesh bags. And I've made a chair that's about this big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I strategically put it at the door and I sit on it. I'll sit on it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
But like I told you, when the kickoff is going to happen or something, you know, you get up and you get close to the grid so you can see what's going on. So, yeah.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I can remember last season in the playoffs, you know, we thought the Cowboys were going to do good. And then Green Bay showed up and they didn't do good.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So believe me, the Texan fans were letting us have it. They were letting us have it and they were talking trash and they were laughing at us. And, you know, they kept showing Dak and he was like a deer in the headlight. I'm just so mad I could cuss. It's just like the same thing keeps happening.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Touchdown, Lamar! And believe me, the next week when the Texans lost against the Ravens, I gave them the blues.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
That's the thing about the death penalty, it's so difficult, is that we're not the worst thing that we've ever done. Are you the worst thing that you've ever done? Because I know you've done something that you, when you think about it, you cringe. We all have. Every human being that's alive has done something like that. So... That's what they're here for. But that's not the person that I know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I'm not that person, right? And so for the most part, you know, guys are pretty calm, you know, pretty low key. And so there's not a lot of friction on their throne. Now, general population, it's different. And when there's a bunch of guys together and then it gets personal. Because somebody starts talking trash, and they put it out, but they can't take it in. And then they get angry.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And then once you get angry, well, then you'll say something that you shouldn't say, and they'll start fighting. So, yeah, there is that element, but I think that's out there in the free world, too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So we get up, you know, I'll get up about 8 o'clock. And because it's a big day, we'll make a feast and we make stuff out of the items that we can buy at the commissary. And so it might be nachos or it might be tacos or special like Super Bowl or something. We'll do enchiladas.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Yes. Okay. Yes, because this has to be planned. We go to commissary two times a month.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So you got to buy the stuff a month before to make sure you have everything that you're going to need on that day. If it's enchiladas, are you cooking those in your cell? Everything that's made is pre-cooked. So you buy items. Beef tips and gravy. Uh-huh. Summer sausages are also used. Chicken chili. And all these things are pre-cooked, so they come in little, like, plastic pouches.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And it's an intricate process. We have to put all these things in cleaned-out plastic chip bags, and we heat them up. What we cook in is a hot pot, which essentially looks like a... an electric water kettle which heats up the water, right? So everything is heated up in water in a plastic bag. And the trick is knowing how to mix everything and warm it up together to make the enchiladas good.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So I've been here for a while and yeah, I can cook pretty good. That's why I'm fat.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Mostly it was week to week. So depending on the matchups, you would make a new lineup. You understand? Okay. You know, Tom Brady's playing whoever, so you're starting Tom Brady. And if it's a two-quarterback league, you know, whoever else it might be. You know, and Rodgers, right? Right. And then—and so— Zekiel Elliott has a good matchup, so you're going to start him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And then, you know, you're mixing and matching. You're mixing and matching. Okay. And so there wasn't no need to get together and have a draft. But what you would have to do is turn in your team because there's a commissioner that's running it, right? And he's the one that's going to get each team, and then he's going to create what we call master sheets. So there's a deadline.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
You gotta turn them in by, you know, Friday at noon.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
slide the stuff out from the cells to the day rooms, and then those guys would get the stuff and give it to another day room, and then that guy would tell the commissioner, hey, man, I've got these teams out here, and then he would make his way out there with what we call a fishing line, and it's essentially like a long string that he'll slide to the day room, and he'd pull them back in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And then the same way, he would pass out the master sheet. You know? And it's the same thing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I've been here literally 25 years. Before there was no TV. So it was all sports talk radio and it was mostly AM. And when you'd get the station, you would hope it stays in. And so that's where we would get our sports update. Because when you play fantasy football, If you don't know what's going on, you're just donating. You're just donating. You know what I'm saying?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
You just might as well just give your money away. You know, we would have to wait on the newspaper. You got to wait on the newspaper to get the stats because, you know, you don't have the stats. You know, nowadays I know that as soon as the games are played, the stats are online. Right, right. But, man, no, man, you know, people would be waiting for the newspaper.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And then the commissioner, he would add it up because everything has to be official, right? Everybody's agreed that he...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Slowly but surely, the guys that played, they've just been pushed out of existence. They've been executed. They're gone. You know, and that's just the reality of being on death row. That's the reality of being sentenced to death.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
We were fans. We used to watch at home. Of course, we watched when I was little.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I was real close with my family. I might have lived... But, you know, on the weekend, I'm going to Mom and Dad's house. Just being with them, and we would watch football all the time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
That was one of the main things that we would talk about. The Cowboys this, the Cowboys that. They continued to watch the football games at home. And so it was the same thing. Back then, I would... wake up early and I would start a letter. And a lot of times I would leave it. I would say half of what I wanted to say and then the game would be going. And then after the game I would have comments.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
And oftentimes I would be writing my mom and my dad and they would be writing me at the same time. And I remember that I was writing them, you know, at four o'clock and then I would see that mom had started this letter at four o'clock. And so that was like the synchronicity of it all, right? And yeah, man, you know, it was special. There's nothing like that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So, like I said, I think fandom is part of family too, because it's part of that bond that we have.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So much of living under death sentences is the unknown. You know, we're sent here We were convicted and sentenced to death and sent to death row to have our lives taken from us, to be executed, you know, to be legally murdered. And that's pretty heavy, man. You hang your hopes on appeal courts and on things that...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
might happen that will allow you to have a reversal in your conviction or your sentence and maybe get out of the situation. So, you know, that's pretty stressful. And some guys can't take it. You know, some guys lose their mind. I had a friend of mine, his name, we called him Big G. He was from Oak Cliff in Dallas. And we called him Big G for a reason. He was like 6'5", about 300 pounds.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
He looked like he could play offensive tackle for the Cowboys. Great guy. One day he told me, he says, man, he says, what if we got it wrong? He says, what if the crazy dudes are normal because they can't cope? And we're the crazy people because we are able to adapt and accept this insanity. And you know, I've never forgot that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Because that would be, that's a normal reaction would be to go insane. Yeah, lose your damn mind that they're going to kill you. And that you're going to sit around for 10 or 15 years until they do it. And so sports for me, especially football, it takes me out of this place. When the game is on, I'm at the stadium. I'm not in this place. I'm not here. I'm not under that death sentence.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I'm not worried about, oh, man, are they going to set me in execution? Oh, man, are they going to deny my appeals? You know, because that's real. That's real there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I've thought, I've thought about that. I'm like, man, will I ever see the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl? Because that's my thing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I think that we might have to wait until Patrick Mahomes goes to another team or something because can't nobody beat him. Do you have a prediction? Yeah, yeah, this is their year, no matter what. Every year is their year, and one of these years they're going to get it done.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
Well, you got to believe, bro. You got to believe, huh? You got to believe.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
That situation, I don't think nobody will ever understand it until you are there and experiencing that. But I've tried to think about it and I've tried to say, well, man, why would somebody say that? And I think it is that. I think it might be our last grab at, hey, I'm still part of, if nothing else, I'm still part of this family.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
I'm still relevant in the fact that even as I'm being ushered out of this life, this reality, I'm still a cowboy fan. And I'm going to declare it at the very end with, you know, reminding the world of what tribe I was from. I'm still human. Even though you're taking my life like an animal, I'm still human. I have a soul. And that's deep, man. That's profound.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
PTFO - Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row: Our Visit to a Supermax Prison
So much of living under death sentences is the unknown. You know, we're sent here. We were convicted and sentenced to death and sent to death row to have our lives taken from us, to be executed, you know, to be legally murdered. And, um, That's pretty heavy, man.