Tyler Moss was released from Sheridan Correctional Center a little more than a year ago after serving time for aggravated battery. Now the 23-year-old Plano resident is appearing on a new PBS docuseries that explores the American Dream.
Moss’ quest to become a homeowner and provider for his family is one of three stories featured on Tuesday’s premiere of “PBS American Portrait,” which is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on WTTW-Ch. 11. PBS asked people to share what it means to be an American as part of a storytelling initiative that launched last year. The network said it collected more than 11,000 responses, which inspired the four-part TV series. Each hourlong episode focuses on a theme such as career aspirations; community traditions and values; the push for an anti-racist America and the pursuit of the American Dream.
“Tyler and Bre’s story completes our American Dream episode in a crucial way because they represent the possibility of personal reinvention and striving beyond one’s circumstances in this country. It’s both an internal and external struggle,” series producer Michele Stephenson said in an email. “Tyler and Bre both refuse to let their childhood family circumstances define who they are as adults. That determination is what drew us to them. Their journey is deeply relatable for so many Americans across the country.”
Moss said he moved around a lot while growing up in Illinois. He briefly attended Dwight Township High School, which is where he met classmate Bre Rodriguez. They started dating, and Rodriguez said she stood by him for years even as he had brushes with the law. Court records show Moss faced firearms and drug possession charges as a teenager. The battery offense landed him in prison in 2018, an experience he shares on the PBS series.
“Honestly, I don’t have anything to hide. It’s a big thing for me to face it because I have guilt from what happened. I feel bad that I hurt somebody so bad. It happened in a split second, and I do feel that I paid my debt to society for the crime that I did,” Moss told the Tribune. “As far as my karma or what I owe to God for helping me through everything, I know I have a lot more to do. I have to face the music and accept what I did and move on. I don’t want to hide it.”
Moss said he took college classes, completed a drug program and learned from other inmates. “I had no father figure in my life teaching me how to be a man. For lack of a better way to put it, it was the other criminals who taught me how to be a man, whether it was by showing me through their maturity or what they do, or showing me behaviors that I shouldn’t do,” Moss said.
After leaving prison in December 2019, he got support from Chicago’s St. Leonard’s House, which helps formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives. Moss called St. Leonard’s an “amazing program” and said it was how he got hooked up with PBS. Tuesday’s episode follows Moss as he works on a farm, struggles to stay out of trouble and tries to plan his future with Rodriguez, who turns 23 years old Wednesday. Moss said others advised him not to jump into a post-prison relationship too soon, but he and Rodriguez rekindled their romance anyway.
“I didn’t want to let him go when he came home. I’m a counselor myself, and I know that what they were saying to him, you know, getting in a relationship when you’re in recovery isn’t always ideal,” Rodriguez told the Tribune. “But I thought, I’m a healthy, supportive person. I’m not into drugs. I’m not in that kind of lifestyle his friends used to be in. I thought I would be able to be helpful.”
Tuesday’s episode also follows a Virginia college student preparing to apply to medical school and an Alaskan pilot starting his own airline after losing his job during the coronavirus pandemic. Without giving away the episode ending, Rodriguez and Moss told the Tribune they have reconsidered their dreams since filming ended last year.
Rodriguez continues to juggle working at a Joliet diner and as a substance abuse counselor, a career path inspired by her father’s drug addiction, though she told the Tribune he is doing well now. She said on the PBS series her dream is to live a simple life and have two children. She still desires those things, but is focusing on herself and her pursuit of a master’s degree in clinical psychology.
Moss has set other goals too. He said he and his friends are creating a YouTube channel and a presence on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform. He talks of modeling, painting and eventually acquiring multiple properties with help from a mentor.
“Honestly, coming home I kind of had smaller ambitions. I want to buy a house. I want to have a family. Not to say that those are not notable things, but my intentions have changed,” Moss said. “The central focus is around business and success because I want to be able to get to a point where I can help other people, and I think that’s only going to happen by drastically focusing on myself for a good while.”
tswartz@tribpub.com
