On Friday morning, ESPN reported that Donald Trump had pardoned a group of former NFL stars, two of whom played for Tennessee football in college. Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon were the players named in the report. Lewis and Henry were both star running backs with the Vols.
ESPN noted that the White House did not return a request for comment on why this group was pardoned. However, Alice Marie Johnson, the ‘White House Pardon Czar’, released a statement on her X account.
“Today, the President granted pardons to five former NFL players—Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late great Dr. Billy Cannon,” Johnson wrote. “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation.”
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According to the ESPN report, Lewis ‘pleaded guilty in a drug case in which he used a cell phone to try to set up a drug deal not long after he was the fifth pick in the 2000 NFL draft.’ Henry ‘pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine in 2009 for financing a drug ring that moved the drug between Colorado and Montana.’
Lewis played for Tennessee from 1997-99, winning a national title with the Vols. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and earned a pair of All-SEC Second-team honors. He would go on to play for both the Ravens and Browns, winning a Super Bowl and leading the league in rushing for a season.
Henry played at Tennessee from 1997-2000. He also won a national title, sharing the backfield with Lewis. In his college career, he was named a First-Team All-SEC member after Lewis’ departure. He, like Lewis, was named to one NFL Pro Bowl. Henry spent his career with the Bills, Titans and Broncos.
