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In an unexpected move, the White House revealed on Thursday that President Donald Trump has issued pardons to five former professional football players, one of whom was pardoned posthumously. These pardons cover a variety of offenses, including perjury and drug trafficking.
Announced by Alice Marie Johnson, the White House’s pardon advisor, the clemency was extended to ex-NFL stars Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late Billy Cannon. This gesture marks a significant moment for these individuals, offering them a chance at redemption and closure.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Johnson eloquently connected the essence of football to the spirit of the nation, stating, “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation.” She expressed gratitude to President Trump for his unwavering dedication to providing second chances.
Among those pardoned, Nate Newton, who famously secured three Super Bowl victories with the Dallas Cowboys, received the news directly from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, underscoring the personal nature of these pardons.
Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.
The White House did not return a request for comment Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.
Klecko, a former star for the New York Jets, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury that was investigating insurance fraud. A defensive lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities discovered $10,000 in his pickup truck as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man. Newton was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.
Lewis, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case in which he used a cellphone to try to set up a drug deal not long after he was a top pick in the 2000 NFL draft. Lewis, a running back, was named an All-Pro once and was a one-time Pro Bowler. He was named the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year.
Henry, who played for the Denver Broncos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing a drug ring that moved the drug between Colorado and Montana. He was a running back for three teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.
And Cannon — who played with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs — admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s after a series of bad investments and debts left him broke.
Cannon was a two-time All-Pro player and a two-time Pro Bowler. Cannon also won the 1959 Heisman Trophy while starring for Louisiana State University, where he had one of the most memorable plays in college football history: an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ole Miss. He died in 2018.
The Republican president has pardoned and commuted the sentences of more than 1,600 people, including many political allies, former GOP politicians and hundreds of people charged or convicted in the 2021 Capitol riot.
He also pardoned reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley who were serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion.
In doing so, Trump has largely cast aside a process that historically has been overseen by nonpolitical personnel at the Justice Department who spent their days poring over clemency applications — thick packets filled with character references attesting to applicants’ atonement and good deeds. Only those meeting strict criteria were then passed along to the White House.
It’s created “a free-for-all” for those seeking clemency, said Liz Oyer, the Justice Department’s former pardon attorney, who was fired in March. “The traditional process and practices,” she told the AP, “all seem to have fallen by the wayside.”
Even disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs reportedly asked the president for a pardon.
During an interview with CNN, Trump said, “a lot of people have asked me for pardons. I call him Puff Daddy, (he) has asked me for a pardon.” Puff Daddy is a nickname for Diddy, who used it as his stage name when he first began releasing music.
According to CNN, Combs’ defense team had reached out to the Trump administration about a possible pardon earlier this year.
“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” attorney Nicole Westmoreland told CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister in August.
Combs, 55, was convicted last year of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters. He was sentenced in October to more than four years in federal prison after being found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Anderson reported from Las Vegas.
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