President Donald Trump pardoned five former NFL players on Thursday: Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon.
The total pardons, with no situations specified, had been introduced by White Home pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson by way of social media.
Klecko, a former New York Jets defensive lineman and 2023 Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame inductee, pleaded responsible to perjury in 1993 for mendacity to a federal grand jury investigating insurance coverage fraud. He was a two-time AP All-Professional and four-time Professional Bowler.
Newton, an offensive lineman who received three Tremendous Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, pleaded responsible to federal drug trafficking in 2002 after authorities discovered money and 175 kilos of marijuana linked to his automobile. He was a two-time All-Professional and six-time Professional Bowler.
Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones personally knowledgeable Newton of the pardon.
Lewis, a operating again for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, pleaded responsible in a drug-related case involving cellphone use to rearrange a deal quickly after being drafted fifth total in 2000. He earned All-Professional honors as soon as, was a Professional Bowler, and was named the 2003 AP Offensive Participant of the 12 months.
Henry, a operating again who performed for 3 groups, pleaded responsible in 2009 to conspiracy to visitors cocaine for financing a drug operation between Colorado and Montana. He was a one-time Professional Bowler.
Cannon, who starred for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and received the 1959 Heisman Trophy at LSU, admitted to counterfeiting within the mid-Eighties amid monetary troubles from dangerous investments. A two-time All-Professional and Professional Bowler, he died in 2018.
Johnson said, “As soccer reminds us, excellence is constructed on grit, grace, and the braveness to rise once more. So is our nation,” thanking President Donald Trump for his dedication to second possibilities.
The White Home offered no particular causes for the pardons.
