On Thursday, unexpected presidential pardons were revealed by the White House.
In Washington, President Donald Trump extended clemency to five former professional football players, one of whom was honored posthumously. The crimes in question ranged from perjury to drug trafficking.
These pardons were disclosed by Alice Marie Johnson, the White House’s pardon adviser. The beneficiaries included former NFL athletes Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late Billy Cannon.
In a post on the social media platform X, Johnson expressed, “Football teaches us that excellence is forged through resilience, grace, and the bravery to rise after a fall, much like our nation.” She went on to commend Trump for his “ongoing dedication to offering second chances.”
Johnson noted that Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, personally informed Newton—who clinched three Super Bowl titles with the team—about the pardon.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for further comments on Thursday night regarding the motivations behind Trump’s decision to pardon these athletes, despite his well-known enthusiasm for sports.
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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