Trump pardons 5 former NFL players

President Trump issued pardons for five former NFL players Thursday.

The former players include Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon. President Trump’s pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, announced the news on the social platform X. 

“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again,” Johnson wrote. “So is our nation.”

She added that Dallas Cowboys general manager Jerry Jones “personally” broke the news to Newton, a former offensive lineman for the team. The 64-year-old served 30 months in prison on a federal drug trafficking charge starting in 2002. 

Since his release, Newton has been active at Cowboys events and participated in media appearances for the team, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

Cannon, a College Football Hall of Famer who died in 2018, served 2 1/2 years in prison after he admitted to participating in a counterfeiting scheme in 1983. He played for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs and was a two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro-Bowler, according to ESPN.

Klecko is a former defensive lineman for the New York Jets who was sentenced to three months in prison for committing perjury in an insurance fraud case. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. 

Lewis, who played for the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, was charged in 2004 for attempting to set up a drug deal. The former running back won the Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2001.

Henry, a former running back for the Buffalo Bills, pleaded guilty in 2009 for conspiracy to traffic cocaine and was sentenced to three years in prison for financially backing a drug ring. 

“Grateful to @POTUS for his continued commitment to second chances,” Johnson wrote later in the post. “Mercy changes lives.”

Johnson herself was issued clemency by Trump after she was sentenced to life for a nonviolent drug offense. After a petition from reality TV star Kim Kardashian, the president commuted her sentence during his first term. In February, he named Johnson as pardon czar.

During his first stretch in the White House, Trump approved 238 clemency requests — far fewer than former President Obama, who granted 1,927, according to Pew Research. Former President Biden granted more clemency requests than any prior president, with a total of 4,245.

Trump has issued several controversial pardons during his second term, including granting around 1,500 requests from those tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.