WASHINGTON — In rural upstate New York, about 10 miles from the Canadian border, snow has already fallen on the grounds of Bare Hill Correctional Facility. There, Joel Simpson works as a filing clerk while serving a five-year-maximum sentence. He attends school in pursuit of an associate degree and calls those closest to him most nights at 7 p.m.
Javon Leake
Simpson shares a TV room with about 60 inmates. A three-person committee of sorts - one man who speaks Spanish, another who likes sports and a third who prefers movies - sets a firm schedule of which channel the TV will turn to at any given time. But regardless of what the compromise says, one event overrides all else: Maryland football.
Javon Leake, the Terrapins' leading rusher and kickoff return maestro, is Simpson's son.
"Everyone understands," Simpson said in a telephone interview. "They all show support."
Once Simpson went to prison in 2016, just before Leake's senior year at Page High School in Greensboro, N.C., he's clung to the occasional windows that let him peer into his son's life and football career. Each rushing yard and all 19 touchdowns at Maryland, Leake's dad has celebrated from afar and through postgame phone calls.
Simpson isn't Leake's biological father, but he filled that role through the running back's childhood, building what Simpson calls the "best relationship I've ever had with another human being." The two have held onto the bond, despite the distance and the circumstances, but Leake's dad has yet to watch his son play football in person. With an early release date expected in May, next season's opener will likely be the first time he watches his son from the stands.
Javon Leake
Page's Javon Leake (1) leaps over Wake Forest's John Jiles (1) in first half as Page High School football team takes on Wake Forest in the NCHSAA Class 4-AA Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page's Javon Leake (1) named the 2016 Class 4AA State Championship Game Outstanding Offensive Player is one of the last players to leave the field following the NCHSAA Class 4-AA Football Championship against Wake Forest's on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Wake Forest wins 29-0.
Javon Leake
Page's head coach Kevin Gillespie holds the 2016 State Runner-up Football Class 4AA award with team captains, Micah Gafford (26), Will Jones (15) Nick Mackovic (68) and Javon Leake (1) during the awards ceremony of the NCHSAA Class 4-AA Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. Wake Forest take the championship with the 29-0 win.
Javon Leake
Page's Javon Leake (1) and Jahlen King (16) get ready to take on Wake Forest in the NCHSAA Class 4-AA Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page High seniors Javon Leake and Caroline Lea laugh as they watch graduates at the Special Events Center in Greensboro, NC on June 11, 2017.
Javon Leake
Page High senior football players Javon Leake and Anthony Rodriguez shake hands before graduation at the Special Events Center in Greensboro, NC on June 11, 2017.
Javon Leake
Page's Javon Leake celebrates as he runs off the field after intercepting a Vance pass, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page Javon Leake (1) celebrates the touchdown during the NCHSAA Class 4-AA West football playoff as No. 2 Page takes on No. 4 West Forsyth on Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
Javon Leake
After making a touchdown, Page's Javon Leake (center) thanks his teammates Ronal Polite (left) and Branyon Spigner during the Page 55-26 win over West Mecklenburg in a high school playoff football game at Kirby Stadium, on Friday, November 25, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page's Javon Leake gets airborne after making the 1st down during the Olympic at Page high school football game at Kirby Stadium, on Friday, November 18, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page High School's Javon Leake (1) breaks away for a 92 yard touchdown run in the first quarter as No. 4 Page takes on No.1 East Forsyth in a Class 4-AA non-conference game on Sept. 23, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
Javon Leake
Page High School's Javon Leake (1) scores a touchdown keeping away Ragsdale's Justin Webster (14) in the first quarter as Page takes on Ragsdale on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in Greensboro, N.C.
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