President Donald Trump pardoned former Tennessee football stars Jamal Lewis and Travis Henry for drug-related criminal charges from several years ago.
Both running backs were on Tennessee’s 1998 national title team, but their crimes were committed during their NFL careers.
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Lewis and Henry joined Joe Klecko, Nate Newton and the late Billy Cannon as former NFL players granted pardons. They were announced on Feb. 12 by Alice Marie Johnson, the so-called “White House pardon czar.”
“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on X. “Grateful to @POTUS for his continued commitment to second chances. Mercy changes lives.”
In 2004, Lewis pleaded guilty to making a phone call to try to set up a drug deal for at least five kilograms of cocaine. He was sentenced to four months in prison and suspended two games by the NFL.
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Lewis was a star running back at Tennessee from 1997-99. In the NFL, he won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, logged a 2,000-yard rushing season and was voted 2003 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
In 2009, Henry pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing an interstate drug ring. He was sentenced to three years in prison and suspended by the NFL. He was reinstated by the NFL after his release from prison.
Henry was a star running back at Tennessee from 1997-2000. He played for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos in the NFL. He made the Pro Bowl in 2002.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Trump pardons ex-Tennessee football stars Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry