Trump Grants Pardons to Five Former NFL Stars

In a sweeping display of presidential clemency, President Trump pardoned five former NFL players on Thursday, including New York Jets legend Joe Klecko, framing the move as another step in what the White House calls the administration’s renewed “Second Chance Agenda.”

The pardons were announced by White House pardon chief Alice Marie Johnson, who praised Trump’s decision as a reminder that “America does not throw people away.”

“Football teaches resilience,” Johnson said. “These men stumbled. They got back up. And now their country is giving them the chance to finish the game with dignity.”

Former defensive tackle Joe Klecko, 72, spent most of his career with the New York Jets and is widely considered one of the most dominant linemen of the 1980s. Klecko served three months in prison in 1993 after pleading guilty to perjury in an insurance fraud investigation.

The White House said Klecko’s age, clean record since the conviction, and long history of community work weighed heavily in Trump’s decision.

Klecko released a statement thanking the president. “I never stopped believing in redemption. Today proves that hard work and faith still mean something in this country,” he said.

Nate Newton, 64, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys, also received clemency. Newton was famously arrested twice in 2001 after authorities seized nearly 400 pounds of marijuana during routine traffic stops.

Johnson said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones delivered the news personally. “Jerry told me he cried,” Johnson said. “He said Nate has been trying for years to rebuild his life. This pardon gives him the clean slate he has earned.”

Newton, known as part of the Cowboys’ dominant 1990s offensive line, said he was “honored and humbled,” adding, “America is the land of second chances because President Trump believes it should be.”

Former Baltimore Ravens running back and Super Bowl XXXV champion Jamal Lewis was pardoned for a 2004 conviction involving the use of a cell phone to arrange a cocaine deal. Lewis served four months in federal prison.

In a phone interview, Lewis said the pardon felt like “the weight of 20 years lifted.”

“I made a terrible mistake when I was young,” he said. “This president looked at the whole story, not just the headlines.”

Travis Henry, 47, who played for the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, and Tennessee Titans, received a pardon for a cocaine trafficking conspiracy tied to a drug operation he was accused of financing.

Officials say Henry completed multiple rehabilitation programs in prison and has since spoken publicly about addiction and poor financial choices.

A White House senior adviser said Trump viewed Henry’s transformation as “exactly the kind of redemption story America wants to see.”

Billy Cannon, the legendary LSU Heisman Trophy winner who later starred for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs, received a posthumous pardon. Cannon served two and a half years in the 1980s for printing millions in counterfeit bills.

White House officials noted Cannon’s service as a respected prison dentist following his release as an example of “turning failure into service.”

Cannon’s family issued a statement saying they were “deeply moved” by Trump’s gesture.

The administration’s pardon operation has expanded rapidly since 2025. Johnson, who was herself released and later pardoned by Trump during his first term, now leads a White House-based clemency office with a mission to fast-track cases involving questionable prosecutions or excessive punishment.

“President Trump believes justice delayed is justice denied,” Johnson said. “We don’t sit on files for years. When a case deserves action, we act.”

Trump also appointed longtime conservative activist Ed Martin as pardon attorney last year, bypassing the traditionally slow Department of Justice review system.

A senior Trump adviser described the president’s philosophy bluntly: “If Americans have paid their dues and turned their lives around, this president will not let bureaucracy stand in the way of freedom.”