President Donald Trump has pardoned five former National Football League players, including one posthumously, granting clemency for offenses ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.
The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, who shared the news on social media.
The individuals granted clemency are Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon.
Johnson wrote on X, “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” and thanked Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”
She also said that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones personally informed Newton of the decision.
The White House did not return a request for comment on the rationale behind the pardons.
Klecko, 72, a former defensive lineman for the New York Jets and a two-time All-Pro selection, was sentenced in 1993 to three months in jail for lying to a federal grand jury investigating an auto-insurance fraud scheme.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Newton, 64, an offensive lineman who won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, received a 30-month prison sentence in 2002 after authorities discovered 175 pounds of marijuana and $10,000 in connection with a drug trafficking case.
Lewis, 46, a former running back for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in 2004 to using a cellphone to attempt to set up a drug deal and was sentenced to four months in prison.
He was named the 2003 Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year.
Henry, 47, who played for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos, was sentenced in 2009 to three years in prison for financing an interstate drug ring involving cocaine.
Cannon, a former halfback who starred at Louisiana State University and won the 1959 Heisman Trophy, served three years of a five-year sentence beginning in 1983 for his role in a counterfeit-money operation.
He died in 2018 at age 80.
The pardons collectively close legal chapters that, for some of the players, date back decades.