WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned five former professional football players, including one posthumously, in clemency announced Thursday by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, according to the Associated Press.
Johnson said on the social media site X that the pardons reflected a theme of resilience. “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” she wrote, thanking Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”
The White House did not return a request for comment Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, chose to issue the pardons.
The recipients were ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon. Johnson said Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner, “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.
Klecko, a former New York Jets defensive lineman, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury that was investigating insurance fraud. Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities found $10,000 in his pickup truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in a separate car driven by another man.
Lewis, a running back who played for the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case that involved his use of a cellphone to try to set up a drug deal not long after he was selected in the 2000 NFL draft. He was named an All-Pro once and a Pro Bowler once.
Henry, who played for the Denver Broncos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine used to finance a drug ring that moved drugs between Colorado and Montana. He played running back for three teams and was a one-time Pro Bowler.
Cannon — who played with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs — admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s after investments and debts left him broke. He died in 2018.
Cannon won the 1959 Heisman Trophy with Louisiana State University, and his college highlight included an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ole Miss, the AP reported.