Former Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly was sentenced to six years in a Texas prison just six months ago, but he is heading to court today asking to be released.
Jolly, who was arrested four times on charges related to illegal possession of codeine, is applying for “shock probation,” which in Texas is available to offenders who argue that the shock of spending some time in jail has been adequate to keep them on the straight and narrow. Jolly says he is simply an addict who needs treatment, not a danger to society.
“Once you get addicted to it, you’re in the mindset where you don’t think you going to get caught or you don’t feel like you’re going to get in trouble,” Jolly said, via KTRK in Houston. “And that’s just the drug talking to you.”
A 2006 sixth-round draft pick of the Packers, Jolly started all 32 games for the Packers in 2008 and 2009, but his drug arrests led to an indefinite league suspension. It’s unlikely that he’d ever play in the NFL again, although at age 29 he still has time to turn his life around and apply for reinstatement to the NFL, if he can get out of prison.