President Donald Trump has pardoned five prominent former NFL players, including members of the pro football and college football halls of fame, for a variety of offenses.
White House “pardon czar” Alice Johnson announced the pardons Thursday for:
- Joe Klecko, 72, who spent most of his career playing with the New York Jets and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023; he was convicted of perjury in 1993 for lying to a grand jury about an insurance fraud scheme and sentenced to three months in prison.
- Nate Newton, 64, a former offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys and member of the Black College Football Hall of Fame, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in 2002 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
- Jamal Lewis, 46, an All-Pro running back for the Baltimore Ravens, who was sentenced to four months in prison in 2005 for using a phone to try to set up a drug deal.
- Travis Henry, 47, a running back for the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills, who was sentenced in 2009 to three years in prison and five years of probation for conspiring to commit drug trafficking.
- Billy Cannon, a College Football Hall of Famer who went on to play with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. Cannon, who died in 2018, was sentenced to five years in prison in 1983 for his role in a $6 million counterfeiting scheme.
In addition to the pardons the president issued to more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Trump has also issued almost 100 others in his second term thus far.
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.