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Washington — President Trump pardoned 5 erstwhile nonrecreational shot players Thursday - 1 posthumously - for assorted crimes ranging from perjury to cause trafficking.
The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson. Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the precocious Billy Cannon were granted the clemency.
"As shot reminds us, excellence is built connected grit, grace, and the courageousness to emergence again. So is our nation," Johnson wrote connected the societal media tract X, arsenic she thanked Mr. Trump for his "continued committedness to 2nd chances."
"Mercy changes lives," she added.
Johnson said Dallas Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones "personally" shared the quality with Newton, who won 3 Super Bowls with the team.
The White House didn't instrumentality a petition for remark Thursday nighttime connected wherefore Mr. Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.
Klecko, a erstwhile prima for the New York Jets, pleaded blameworthy to perjury aft lying to a national expansive assemblage that was investigating security fraud. A antiaircraft lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame successful 2023. He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro subordinate and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Joe Klecko addresses the assemblage during the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony connected August 5, 2023, astatine the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium successful Canton, Ohio.
Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Newton, an violative lineman, pleaded blameworthy to a national cause trafficking complaint aft authorities discovered $10,000 successful his pickup motortruck arsenic good arsenic 175 pounds of marijuana successful an accompanying car driven by different man. Newton was a two-time All-Pro subordinate and six-time Pro Bowler.
Lewis, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, pleaded blameworthy successful a cause lawsuit successful which helium utilized a cellphone to effort to acceptable up a cause woody not agelong aft helium was a apical prime successful the 2000 NFL draft. Lewis, a moving back, was named an All-Pro erstwhile 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 blameworthy to conspiracy to postulation cocaine for financing a cause ringing that moved the cause betwixt Colorado and Montana. He was a moving backmost for 3 teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.
And Cannon - who played with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs - admitted to counterfeiting successful the mid-1980s aft a bid of atrocious investments and debts near him broke.
Cannon was a two-time All-Pro subordinate and a two-time Pro Bowler. Cannon besides won the 1959 Heisman Trophy portion starring for Louisiana State University, wherever helium had 1 of the astir memorable plays successful assemblage shot history: an 89-yard punt instrumentality for a touchdown against Ole Miss. He died successful 2018.
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