President Donald Trump on Thursday granted pardons to five former NFL players, extending clemency to athletes whose post-football lives were marked by criminal convictions ranging from perjury to drug-related offenses.
The announcement was delivered by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, who shared the news in a post on Twitter. Johnson framed the decision as one rooted in second chances and national renewal.
“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson said.
Today, the President granted pardons to five former NFL players—Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late great Dr. Billy Cannon.
As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation.
Special thanks… pic.twitter.com/Y4FC5lQwGE
— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) February 13, 2026
The recipients span eras and franchises across the league, writes Fox News.
Among them is Joe Klecko, a Pro Football Hall of Famer known for his standout career with the New York Jets. Klecko had pleaded guilty to perjury for providing false testimony to a federal grand jury during an investigation into insurance fraud.
Also receiving clemency is Nate Newton, a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys. Newton pleaded guilty to a federal drug-trafficking charge after authorities found $10,000 in his truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in a related vehicle. Johnson noted that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones personally informed Newton of the decision.
Jamal Lewis, a former Baltimore Ravens running back who earned Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2003 after winning a Super Bowl, admitted guilt in a drug case involving an attempt to arrange a deal via cellphone shortly after being drafted fifth overall in 2000.
Travis Henry, who played for multiple teams during his NFL tenure and earned Pro Bowl recognition, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine in connection with funding a drug operation that spanned Colorado and Montana.
The fifth pardon went to Billy Cannon, a 1959 Heisman Trophy winner from LSU who later starred with the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders. Cannon had admitted to counterfeiting charges in the mid-1980s. He died in 2018; his pardon was issued posthumously.
All five individuals had completed their sentences years earlier. The pardons provide formal clemency for their past convictions, closing legal chapters that lingered long after their playing careers ended.
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