US President Donald Trump has pardoned five former professional American football (NFL) players, exonerating them of responsibility for various crimes, from perjury to drug trafficking.
Former NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and, posthumously, Bill Cannon were pardoned.
"As football reminds us, excellence is built on perseverance, dignity, and the courage to rise again. So it is with our nation," White House Pardons Commissioner Alice Mary Johnson wrote on social media, thanking Trump for his "continued commitment to providing second chances."
Johnson added that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones personally broke the news to Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the Texas team.
Newton, 64, pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges after authorities found $10.000 in his pickup truck, as well as about 80 kilograms of marijuana in his entourage.
Kleko, 72, a former New York Jets star, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury investigating insurance fraud.
Lewis (46), a former Baltimore and Cleveland player, pleaded guilty to a case in which he attempted to arrange drug sales, shortly after he was one of the first picks in the 2000 NFL Draft.
Henry, 47, who played for Denver, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing a ring that transported the drug between Colorado and Montana.
Cannon, who played for Houston, Oakland and Kansas City, admitted to forgery in the mid-80s after bad investments and debt led him to financial ruin. He died in 2018.
Bonus video:
