Nevest Coleman officially started as a Chicago White Sox groundskeeper Monday after spending more than two decades behind bars for crimes he didn't commit. Coleman, 49, reflected on returning to his old job, reuniting with his family and his championship hopes for the White Sox. 
 
 "I was proud to come back here," Coleman told CBS News in phone interview. "I love the atmosphere." 
 
 Coleman's day began with power-washing the entrance to Guaranteed Rate Field where the team's 2005 World Series commemoration plaza and sculpture are located, CBS Chicago reports. 
 
 His situation now is vastly different than it was over the last 23 years, when he was sitting in jail as an innocent man. He kept out of trouble, spent most of his time reading books, such as those in the popular series "Game of Thrones" and "Harry Potter," and tried to avoid the "routine" of television. 
 
 When asked what kept him going, he replied, "My family." 
 
 "I know I didn't do it," he said. "My family was always behind me. My goal was to see everybody." 
 
 In November, Coleman was released from prison after DNA evidence led prosecutors to vacate his conviction in a 1994 rape and murder. A county judge granted him a certificate of innocence this month. 
 
 CBS Chicago 
 
 "It took a lot of weight off my shoulders," Coleman said. "Just to look around and be on my front porch. Take a shower, sit in a tub. I take it one day at a time. Now, I just have to enjoy life." 
 
 He hadn't been with his son and daughter since they were 3 months old and 2 years old, respectively. He now has grandchildren and makes a point to keep in touch with the entire family. 
 
 "It's real now," he said. "I call them every day. I call my grand-babies every day. It's like we started all over again." 
 
 Coleman's childhood priest reached out to the White Sox on his behalf in February. After an interview, the team welcomed him back. 
 
 On Monday, he stepped onto Guaranteed Rate Field -- which he knew back when it was called Comiskey Park. Now, apart from spending more time with his loved ones, Coleman wishes his White Sox would win the title this year. 
 
 "I hope we win a World Series because I'm out now," he said. 
 
 The White Sox say they're grateful that "justice has been carried for Nevest." ||||| CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago man who served 23 years for a rape and murder he didn’t commit returned to his old job on Monday, working on the grounds crew for the White Sox. 
 
 Guaranteed Rate Field has gone through a few different names, not to mention some major renovations since Coleman last worked on the grounds crew, but to Nevest Coleman it’s still Comiskey Park. 
 
 Flanked by former colleagues who are still on the grounds crew, a thankful Coleman stepped onto the grass at 35th and Shields for the first time in more than two decades. 
 
 For Coleman, the return to the ballpark the White Sox call home is more than just having his old job back, it’s about gaining independence many men don’t get after leaving prison, even when they’ve had their names cleared as Coleman has. 
 
 “I don’t have to worry about everybody giving me things. I can support myself now,” he said. 
 
 Coleman was released from prison in November, after DNA evidence cleared him and a co-defendant of the 1994 rape and murder of Antwinica Bridgeman. 
 
 He interviewed with the White Sox in February, after his childhood priest reached out to the team on Coleman’s behalf. Coleman had worked a variety of jobs, often more than one at a time, when he caught on with the Sox before the 1992 season. 
 
 “I felt comfortable here; everyone was like family to me,” Coleman said. “I’d wake up in the morning and be proud to come to work.” 
 
 Since stepping away from the decades of wrongful imprisonment, Coleman’s family has been in awe of his optimism. 
 
 “If I’m miserable, that means everybody else around me will be miserable,” he said. “So if I’m happy, everybody else will be happy. I don’t have time to be miserable, you know?” 
 
 During his time in jail, Coleman often saw old colleagues pulling the rain delay tarp across the field on TV. He bumped into some of them when officially accepting the job in February, and said seeing them in person set him at ease. 
 
 His new duties on Monday started with power-washing the Gate 4 entrance to Guaranteed Rate Field, where the team’s 2005 World Series commemoration plaza and sculpture are located. 
 
 Coleman has said he hopes to move up to full-time staff in the future. ||||| Nevest Coleman looked around the White Sox ballpark in wonder as he walked down the third base line. 
 
 Flanked by colleagues, Harry Smith and Jerry Powe, Coleman marveled at how much the stadium had changed since 1994, when he last worked for the team. As he took in the sights, legendary head groundskeeper Roger “The Sodfather” Bossard came over and embraced Coleman in a quick hug. 
 
 “I saved your spot for you,” Bossard said. “I knew you’d be back.” 
 
 And he told him, “Just remember, I’m counting on you to help me with that tarp, too.” 
 
 “I’m ready,” Coleman replied. 
 
 Coleman’s first day back at work Monday couldn’t be more remarkable. He’d been on the White Sox groundskeeping crew in 1994 when he was charged with a heinous rape and murder. 
 
 He spent the next 23 years behind bars until DNA evidence last November led prosecutors to vacate Coleman's conviction, leading to his freedom. A Cook County judge granted him a certificate of innocence this month, clearing his name. 
 
 Soon after, the White Sox agreed to give him his old job back, helping Coleman realize a dream he often discussed in prison. 
 
 Local and national news reporters waited for Coleman’s return at 7 a.m. Smith stood outside the stadium, too, waiting for his old friend. 
 
 As Coleman approached Gate 4 at Guaranteed Rate Field, Smith remarked, “He got a little fatter, but that’s him.” 
 
 The two men hugged one another, and went inside, where Coleman, Smith and Powe shared a private moment in the tunnel leading to the field. 
 
 Back in the 1990s, the three men worked together on the grounds crew. Prosecutors pushed for Coleman to receive the death penalty after his trial in 1997, but a long line of character witnesses stood up for him at his sentencing hearing, including three White Sox employees. 
 
 Smith and Powe remain, while the other no longer works for the team. Powe is now Coleman’s supervisor. 
 
 “Glad to see him out. Glad to see him back,” Powe said. “I’m so happy for him, me and the White Sox.” 
 
 From the time he left high school, Coleman said he's been on the job. He always wanted to be independent. 
 
 "I don't like to ask anybody for anything,” Coleman told the Tribune last week — a point he emphasized again Monday. 
 
 Even while incarcerated, Coleman kept working, including a job making socks. Still, he particularly enjoyed his time with the Sox and said he considered it a “family.” 
 
 “I’d wake up in the morning proud to go to work,” Coleman said Monday. “A lot of times, you get people who get jobs, you go to work, you be like, ‘I don’t want to go.’ Here, I loved it.” 
 
 His Monday morning included a flurry of interviews. He sat in the home dugout talking to reporters. 
 
 At times, Coleman gazed at the giant advertisements, billboards, and television in the outfield, amazed by the changes. 
 
 Reflecting on his newfound freedom, Coleman said, “You get tired sitting around the house.” 
 
 “You won’t be sitting” here, Smith replied. 
 
 After about an hour reuniting with his friends, Coleman changed into a yellow rubber suit. He put on gloves and goggles then headed outside, where Power handed him a power washer to spray the ground clean. 
 
 The fairy tale return for Coleman was set in motion by friends and loved ones after he left prison in November. Speaking of his plans after his release, Coleman often mentioned the White Sox. 
 
 “I want to sit back for a while, get to know my family, and when the time comes around, go back to Comiskey Park,” Coleman recalled saying. 
 
 Nevest Coleman was freed on Nov. 20, 2017, after Cook County prosecutors agreed to a retrial for Coleman, who was convicted of a 1994 rape and murder that recent DNA testing suggests he did not commit. He was given his job back at the White Sox grounds crew and started on Monday, March 26, 2018. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) 
 
 The White Sox heard his story, then invited him to 35th and Shields for a job interview. To Coleman’s delight, the team agreed to bring him back. 
 
 “We’re grateful that after more than two decades, justice has been carried out for Nevest,” the team said in a statement. “It has been a long time, but we’re thrilled that we have the opportunity to welcome him back to the White Sox family. We’re looking forward to having Nevest back on Opening Day at home in our ballpark.” 
 
 The Rev. William Vanecko, Coleman’s attorney Russell Ainsworth and a cousin, Richard Coleman, were instrumental in making Nevest Coleman’s wish come true. 
 
 Ainsworth said he reached out to share Coleman’s story through a relative who works in White Sox ticketing. 
 
 Vanecko knew Coleman from his days at Visitation Church in Englewood, down the block from the Coleman family home. The retired Catholic priest called the White Sox and told them about Coleman. 
 
 Vanecko said he wanted to ask, “Do you think you can give him 23 years seniority for the (time) he missed?” but bit his tongue. 
 
 Coleman’s cousin Richard also called the team. 
 
 “His first wish, before he wished for a hamburger, was to work for the White Sox,” Richard Coleman said. “That’s exactly what I told them.” 
 
 Familiar faces 
 
 The White Sox that Coleman knew in 1994 have changed. 
 
 The ballpark changed names from Comiskey Park to U.S. Cellular Field and is now Guaranteed Rate Field. Seats are green instead of blue. The franchise lopped off several rows from the upper deck. There’s ivy on the center field backdrop and a bar in right field. 
 
 Frank Thomas, the league MVP when Coleman last worked for the Sox, went into the Hall of Fame in 2014. Ozzie Guillen and Robin Ventura, stars on the field when Coleman was incarcerated, each went on to manage the White Sox. 
 
 Guillen led the team to the 2005 World Series. Coleman remembers hearing a roar in his cell that October. 
 
 “I go, ‘What’s going on?’ ” he said. “The White Sox won.” Coleman recalled feeling happy for the team and city. 
 
 Since coming out of prison, he has stayed true to his word. He’s spent the past four months bonding with his four siblings, two children and three grandchildren: Shaniya, Harmony and Nyla. 
 
 Now he’s ready to be back with the Sox as part of the grounds crew. 
 
 Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan contributed. 
 
 gpratt@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @royalpratt 
 
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– It's been nearly a quarter-century since Nevest Coleman helped powerwash and pull back the tarp at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox stadium now known as Guaranteed Rate Field. But the 49-year-old is back on the job, after 23 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. The Chicago Tribune reports Coleman, whose conviction for a 1994 rape and murder was overturned in November after DNA evidence cleared him, would often watch his former groundskeeping colleagues taking care of the rain-delay tarp on TV in prison, and once released, he talked fondly about his old role at the stadium. "I'd wake up in the morning proud to go to work," he tells the Tribune. "I loved it." When the White Sox got wind of his desire to return, they called him in for an interview, and to Coleman's delight he got the gig, which started Monday, per CBS News. The head groundskeeper greeted him with: "I saved your spot for you. I knew you'd be back," per the Tribune. As for the White Sox, they said in a statement, "We're grateful that after more than two decades, justice has been carried out for Nevest. It has been a long time, but we're thrilled that we have the opportunity to welcome him back to the White Sox family." Coleman, who kept his mind occupied in prison by reading the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter books, among others, is now looking forward to spending time with his kids (whom he left on the outside when they were babies) and grandkids and getting used to all the changes at the park. And he's done looking back at the past, per CBS Chicago. "If I'm happy, everybody else will be happy," he says. "I don't have time to be miserable, you know?"