Former NFL pro-bowler of the Seattle Seahawks finds purpose after hanging up his cleats and shoulders pads after a successful football career.

When Doug Baldwin Jr. retired from pro football, he felt himself at loose ends.

 “I felt lost in the world, I didn’t know where I stood” Baldwin told GQ Sports.

Baldwin went from catching passes in the Super Bowl to assisting incarcerated people in finding freedom through clemency and pardons in Washington State. After retiring in 2019, Baldwin was confronted with the struggles of life after football. For example, learning to cope with having a wife and family and three daughters with no instant gratification from the game he loved was a reality check. 

In 2022 he became one of the five members appointed to Governor Jay Inslee’s clemency and pardon board in the state of Washington. Alongside him, the other members consisted of a reporter of the court, an educational dean, a lawyer, and a former department licensing director. (The Washington State board is similar to the California Parole Board).

“I felt compelled to join it.” said Baldwin.  Baldwin, the son of a peace officer, utilizes his platform to highlight political issues that are important to him. His work on the board has provided him with the chance to tackle his passion for systemic justice reform and find purpose after a long and eventful football career.

The duties as board members are not only to attend quarterly hearing with the purpose of determining which cases are deemed more worthy of changing sentences, but also to listen in on hours of intensive testimony via video conference.  

While not all petitions have to be deemed extraordinary to be granted, according to GQ (spell out fully) Sports, the governor tends to concur with a recommendation when one is forwarded to his office.

“I look at people who come before our board and they’re just like me,” said Baldwin. “They are just human beings who are flawed.” 

And even before being appointed on the board, Baldwin was already the face of civic-minded works. As a player, he declared that his teammates would lock arms in unity during the National Anthem as a way of advocating for better training  for law enforcement officers, emphasizing de-escalation tactics when facing situations on the street.

Baldwin started playing football at six years old. During his professional career, he was known as “Angry Doug Baldwin” in the NFL. Football became his safety net, throughout all life challenges, he said. Faced with life after retirement, he is finding new skills. 

Baldwin’s first experiences serving on the board involved capital murder cases. Baldwin struggled getting through those hearings. Meanwhile, he prides himself on bringing a different perspective to the table, one valuing compassion, spiritual beliefs, mercy, and forgiveness. This approach brings a diversity of life experience to the makeup of the board.  

Baldwin recalled hearing a case involving an aggravated rape. He said he does not enter these hearing with his mind made up. He said his intent is to go in being fair and compassionate, while also expecting the petitioners to be forthcoming when questions are asked, and to display remorse. 

“We have to stay grounded in his philosophy and in our perspective of who we are. We are not the same individual we were when we were first locked up,” said San Quentin resident Robert Moody, who has never met Baldwin, but admires his approach. “With more people like Doug, the better chances we have on getting out of prison with a second chance.”

Baldwin spoke at length on his experiences reviewing cases of people from underprivileged communities. Lacking a good support system plays an integral role on someone’s life, he said. This is why for Baldwin, when it comes to the criminal justice system, he finds it difficult to see justice in a system that has so many systemic errors. “Justice doesn’t follow through,” he said.

Preparing for a hearing consists of going through stacks of paperwork. It can be extremely challenging to read every page, so Baldwin recognizes what other members are looking for; then he reportedly seeks the avenue overlooked by other board members.

During a hearing, Baldwin voted to grant clemency to a person convicted of a 34-year-old murder. He based his decision on the convicted person’s ability to show remorse and his dedication to rehabilitation. He said he did not want to be judgmental and unforgiving. Baldwin felt withholding mercy went against his faith that all of us can be reached.

 “None of us are a lost cause, we’re all redeemable,” said Baldwin. 

He said he had to understand forgiveness before going into one of these hearings. He must check himself at the door mentally and emotionally, presenting the best version of himself in the hearings.  

He said he had to keep in mind that this decision would affect the not just the petitioner. It would impact their community, observers in the room, future petitioners, and other board members to come.

Baldwin added that the altruistic purpose of the justice system is to incarcerate people who have hurtful mistakes in the real world and rehabilitate them so they can then return to the real world in a healthy and productive manner. 

San Quentin resident Moody agreed.

“If kids can evolve from ages 10-13, imagine how someone can evolve in 20-25 years when getting an education, vocational training and self-help groups in prison,” Moody said.