President Trump pardoned five former pro football players, including one posthumously, for a variety of offenses ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.
Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and Billy Cannon, who died in 2018, were the recipients of the clemency. White House pardon czar Alice Johnson announced the pardons on X late Thursday.
“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Ms. Johnson wrote on X, thanking Mr. Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”
Ms. Johnson added that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Mr. Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team in the 1992, 1993 and 1995 NFL seasons.
Mr. Newton pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in two 2001 cases. He was arrested in November 2001 after a traffic stop revealed 213 pounds of marijuana in the car he was driving. While free on bail from the Louisiana arrest, he was arrested again in Texas when authorities found $10,000 in his pickup truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of an accompanying car driven by another man. He was sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison for the Texas incident and five years for the Louisiana incident, but both sentences ran concurrently.
He was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.
Mr. Klecko, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury probing insurance fraud. He was sentenced to three months in prison in 1993.
A defensive lineman for the New York Jets, Mr. Klecko was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Mr. Lewis, who played for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case in which he used a cellphone to set up a drug deal not long after he was the fifth overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He served four months in federal prison in 2005.
A running back, Mr. Lewis was the AP Offensive Player of the year in 2003 and played on the Ravens’ 2000 NFL title team. He was a one-time Pro Bowler and named All-Pro once.
Mr. Henry, who played for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Court documents depicted the running back as “the ruthless ‘money guy’ in a cocaine trafficking ring.” He was sentenced to three years in federal prison and was released after two years.
Mr. Cannon, an All-American running back at Louisiana State University in the late 1950s who went on to win three American Football League championships with the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders, became involved in a counterfeiting scheme after a series of bad investments left him broke. He served 2 1/2 years in prison. He died at age 80.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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