Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 3-4-22

Feature
Former Tampa Tech Titan Shares Lesson For Life With Young Athletes
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
What he thought was an opportunity to play Major League Baseball, turned out to be a 27-year prison sen- tence. That’s the time he spent in the West Virginia prison system for a crime he did not commit.
Born in Georgia, but raised in Tampa, Jimmie C. Gardner, now spends his time trying to help those like himself through The Inno- cence Project, that helped to free him.
Gardner, now 56 years old, was in Tampa late last month, coming in from Cali-
Jimmie Gardner at Super Bowl LVI last month in Los Angeles.
Tampa Tech Coaches Anthony Palmer, Anthony Davis, and Kel- wain Gainey, with Tyrone Keys.
fornia to talk with students at his alma mater, Tampa Bay Tech High School, as they were on their way to the State Championship football game. Giving the team a pep talk, he shared with them that ‘it’s not where you start, but where you finish.’
Although drafted to play with the Chicago Cubs right out of high school in 1984, Gardner also played foot- ball at Tech and was on the team that broke their 38 football game losing streak against Tampa Catholic High School, when they swept the Crusaders 34-0 back in 1983. The Tech team he was on won 1 game in 3 years.
“Tech came up short on the scoreboard (at the State Championship), but the mes- sage that Jimmie shared with them about faith and overcoming, if taken to heart, will make them winners in the Biggest Game of ALL – LIFE,” said Tyrone Keys.
Gardner co-founded the Freedom Bowl here in Tampa, 2021 during the Super Bowl and he recruited support from other Super Bowl Champions: Tony Dungy, Derrick Brooks, Dexter Jackson and Tampa Bay Lightning Cham- pions who contributed silent auction items.
“The goal is to raise
awareness and financial sup- port for legal fees to assist the Innocence Project with helping the wrongfully con- victed,” Gardner said.
“So many of them are looking forward to walking out with arms raised like Jimmie and the 350 Ex- onerees. We are honored to witness the sports commu- nity champion this cause," Keys said.
Wrongful Conviction Day is held every Oct. 2nd around the country.
Wrongfully imprisoned for decades, Jimmie Gard- ner is driven by faith and justice, he says. It was his trust in God that kept him pushing to prove his inno- cence — and now that he's out, to fight for others like him.
Gardner was arrested in 1989 and accused of robbing 2 elderly women in separate incidents. Neither of the vic- tims identified him as their attacker. He maintained his innocence all along, even after being sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Since being released in 2016, Gardner has gotten married to Leslie Abrams Gardner and earned a col- lege degree from Chapman University. He’s continuing his fight for others incarcer- ated.
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