WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug 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 late Billy Cannon were granted the clemency.
“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.”
Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.
The White House did not return a request for comment Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.
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. A defensive lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities discovered $10,000 in his pickup truck as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man. Newton was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.
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. Lewis, a running back, was named an All-Pro once 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 guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing a drug ring that moved the drug between Colorado and Montana. He was a running back for three teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.
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.
Cannon was a two-time All-Pro player and a two-time Pro Bowler. 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. He died in 2018.
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Anderson reported from Las Vegas.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin to announce the EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gases, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Casey Mears spun on pit road, got briefly stuck in the infield grass and missed a last-lap crash by mere inches. After all that, he finished eighth a qualifying race Thursday night for the Daytona 500, good enough to get him into “The Great American Race.”
Mears choked back tears three separate times after squeezing into the 41-car field as the highest-finishing “open” car in the first of two 150-mile qualifying races. Anthony Alfredo earned the final spot in the starting lineup in the second qualifier.
“I was worried when we got stuck. I was worried about going two laps down,” Mears said. “Actually got on the radio and asked all the guys to stay calm, said, ‘We still got a shot here.’ For sure when we were sitting in the grass, that wasn’t pretty.
“I can’t believe it. After all that, being sitting in position to go race the Daytona 500 on Sunday, pretty much the whole race I was thinking that was out of our grasp.”
Joey Logano of Team Penske won the first race and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports took the second. Both were already assured of spots in NASCAR’s season opener and will start on the second row Sunday.
Mears is driving for Garage 66, a team owned by former driver Carl Long with just 10 employees on hand in Daytona. The 47-year-old driver is in pursuit of 500 career Cup Series starts and received financial assistance from former NASCAR team owner Bob Germain to enter Daytona.
Mears, who last competed full-time in 2016, will make his 495th start Sunday. With his fate uncertain, his wife and 14-year-old son booked two separate plane tickets from their home in Phoenix. His daughter has a cheerleading competition in Las Vegas, and they were either headed to see her or to Florida to watch Mears in the Daytona 500.
“Couldn’t be happier they’re taking that flight to Orlando. Gosh, dang, man, got choked up. It means a lot,” he said. “It just means a lot. Especially now, you know what I mean? My kids were younger when I was racing. Even before I started doing this this last year, I’d asked my son about, ‘Do you remember this or that?’ He didn’t remember. He was young.
“To come back and do it now, my kids, the ages they’re at, they understand what dad did for a living is cool.”
Like Mears, Alfredo was also in tears after making the Daytona 500. It will be his third start in the race and he drives for Beard Motorsports, a team that only attempts to race at superspeedways.
“My career is a lot of ups and downs and you never know when you will get another shot to race on any Sunday, especially the Daytona 500, the Great American Race,” Alfredo said. “I’ve only been this choked up twice in my life: the day (my daughter) was born and when I made the Daytona 500... missing it last year has haunted me until this very moment.
“This is the only thing that could pull that black cloud over.”
Logano won the first Daytona 500 qualifying race when a crash in overtime cost Corey LaJoie the spot that went to Mears.
Logano in a Ford for Team Penske had control of the race when a caution for a five-car accident with four laps remaining brought out the yellow. Logano had the lead on the restart for the two-lap sprint to the finish and wasn’t challenged before the final crash ended LaJoie’s hopes and gave Logano his fourth victory in a Daytona qualifying race.
Logano is a three-time Cup champion who won the Daytona 500 in 2015.
“I do think we have a strong race car, obviously a fast race car, we proved that,” Logano said. “There’s definitely some things I want to work on, no doubt. It’s always like that. We have to have speed. We’ll work on some handling pieces, but I feel like we’re pretty close.”
Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR champion, has won a qualifying race three times now.
“A great way to get the blood pumping for sure on a Thursday night,” Elliott said. "Nice to get the NAPA Chevy a win. Not a 500. I’ve been here before and not the other one, so you have to kind of learn to take it a day at a time.
“A great way to start the speed week for our team. Proud of our effort, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the boss, from top to bottom. Good night. Looking forward to Sunday.”
The four drivers who failed to qualify for the 41-car field were LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley. Two spots were earned in Wednesday night's time trials and went to Justin Allgaier and Corey Heim.
Kyle Busch won the pole in time trials as he attempts to win his first Daytona 500 in 21 starts.
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Joey Logano and crew celebrate a win in Victory Lane during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Chase Elliott celebrates winning the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Cars move on the track during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)
Casey Mears speaks during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Joey Logano, (22) wins during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Joey Logano and crew celebrate a win in Victory Lane during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Cars runs during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Joey Logano watches the leader board during NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
