<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players, one posthumously, for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon were granted the clemency.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/nancy-guthrie-suspect-description-and-backpack/f5533911-7080-42fa-bd6a-e53ff3e4e504"><strong><span>FBI issues new details of suspect in Nancy Guthrie case</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on the social media site X, as she thanked Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House did not return a request for comment on Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trump-pardons-5-former-nfl-players-for-crimes-ranging-from-perjury-to-drug-trafficking/5ba7cc8e-30eb-4ef7-a1d8-f4b7f3bd034c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/north-korea-kim-jong-un-expected-to-name-daughter-ju-ae-his-heir/5de3bb90-78a6-4740-9b65-eeee08b0a79a" rel="" target="" title="Kim Jong Un's teen daughter poised to become heir, spy agency says"><strong><span>Kim Jong Un's teen daughter poised to become heir, spy agency says</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A defensive lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities discovered US$14,000 in his pickup truck as well as 80kg of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Newton was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/tumbler-ridge-shooting-came-after-new-gun-control-laws-in-canada/79313adc-5c4e-421f-952f-97710cc7ccfa"><strong><span>Canada tightened gun control laws before school mass shooting</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lewis, a running back, was named an All-Pro once and was a one-time Pro Bowler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was named the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was a running back for three teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cannon was a two-time All-Pro player and a two-time Pro Bowler.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He died in 2018.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and 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