“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. 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 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. I can support myself now,” he 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. “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. “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. “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. He was given his job back at the White Sox grounds crew and started on Monday, March 26, 2018.  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. “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. 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. He interviewed with the White Sox in February, after his childhood priest reached out to the team on Coleman’s behalf. Coleman's childhood priest reached out to the White Sox on his behalf in February. Now, apart from spending more time with his loved ones, Coleman wishes his White Sox would win the title this year. 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. 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. When asked what kept him going, he replied, "My family." 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.
– 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?"