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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former NFL players – one of them posthumously – wiping away convictions that ranged from perjury to drug trafficking.
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The clemency move was announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, who revealed that Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon were all granted pardons.
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“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on X, thanking Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”
A bit of personal touch
Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” delivered the news to Newton, the former Cowboys offensive lineman who won three Super Bowls with the team.
According to The Associated Press, the White House did not respond Thursday night to a request for comment on why Trump – a sports enthusiast – decided to pardon the players.
From standout careers to legal troubles
Klecko, a former star defensive lineman with the New York Jets, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury investigating insurance fraud. Klecko, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023, was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler.
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Newton, a two-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities found $10,000 in his pickup truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in another vehicle tied to him.
Lewis, who played running back for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case involving a cellphone used to try to set up a deal shortly after he was a top pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He was a one-time All-Pro, a Pro Bowler and the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year.
Henry, a former Denver Broncos running back, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine after financing a drug ring that moved drugs between Colorado and Montana. He was a one-time Pro Bowler who played for three teams.
Football icon
Then there’s Cannon – a college football legend and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner at Louisiana State University. He later played for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.
In the mid-1980s, after bad investments left him broke, Cannon admitted to counterfeiting. the two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler died in 2018.
Now, years after their legal troubles, Trump has given them what Johnson calls a second chance.
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