Former NFL player Wendell Smallwood Jr. is reportedly set to receive an early release from prison so he can spend time with his 8-year-old daughter, who is battling cancer.
Smallwood has been incarcerated since 2024. His time behind bars has kept him separated from his family during an already difficult period. Now, his daughter’s condition has reportedly led authorities to allow him to return home for what could be her final days.
Wendell Smallwood Jr., a former running back for the Philadelphia Eagles and other teams, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in September 2025 on federal fraud charges related to COVID-19 economic relief programs, according to the News Journal. He pleaded guilty in September 2024 and has remained behind bars since.
He is also serving a concurrent three-year state prison sentence after pleading guilty in an unrelated gun possession case out of New Jersey earlier this year, the outlet reported.
But on Friday, Aug. 7, Gloucester County Superior Court Judge Renard Scott withdrew Smallwood’s state guilty plea, citing his daughter’s illness as a valid reason for the decision, the outlet reported.
The news is a painful reminder that some moments are bigger than sports, careers and even prison sentences.
The ruling also follows a July appeals court decision that found New Jersey’s assault weapons ban unconstitutional, which allowed Smallwood, 32, to withdraw his plea.
Additionally, per the outlet, Smallwood’s early release was influenced by his federal prison record and participation in rehabilitation programs.
According to the News Journal, his 8-year-old daughter, Mila, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and doctors now say she may have only days or weeks to live.
“This is not just a matter of legal semantics,” Smallwood’s attorney, Yaron Helmer, told the outlet. “It’s about whether his daughter will hold her dad again.”
Helmer added that Smallwood could be released as early as Monday, Aug. 17.
Smallwood’s return will not change the illness his daughter is facing. It cannot erase the pain his family has experienced, but it can give them something precious: time together.
For a parent, that time may become the most important part of the entire ordeal.
