President Trump Pardons Former Buffalo Bills RB for Previous Crimes

President Donald Trump pardoned five former NFL players on Thursday, and a former Buffalo Bills running back was among them.

The White House “pardon czar,” Alice Marie Johnson, announced each of the five pardons on social media, stating that President Trump is committed to “second chances.”

“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote in a post to X.

Buffalo Bills running back Travis Henry (20) in action against the Cincinnati Bengals at Ralph Wilson Stadium. | MPS-Imagn Images

Henry’s crimes

The former Bills’ running back was sentenced to three years in federal prison in July 2009 after he was found to have financed a cocaine-smuggling ring that distributed the illicit drug between Colorado and Montana. He pleaded guilty to the charge and also received five years of probation and a recommendation that he spend 500 hours in a drug treatment program.

When he was arrested, Henry claimed the reason for his criminal conduct was that he was having trouble making child support payments, as he is a father to nine children with nine different women.

“If given the chance, I want to tell kids around the world that using drugs and abusing drugs isn’t the way,” he said at the time of his sentencing, per ESPN.

Henry spent four seasons with the Bills in the early 2000s, recording two consecutive seasons with more than 1,300 yards rushing in 2002 and 2003. He made the Pro Bowl in ’02. After his career in Buffalo, Henry played for the Tennessee Titans for two years, recording 1,211 yards rushing and seven touchdowns in 2006, earning Comeback Player of the Year consideration. He finished his career with the Denver Broncos in 2007.

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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.

As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation.

Special thanks… pic.twitter.com/Y4FC5lQwGE
— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) February 13, 2026

Others pardoned

Along with Henry, former New York Jet Joe Klecko, former Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton, former Baltimore Raven Jamal Lewis and former Houston Oiler Billy Cannon also received pardons.

Klecko pleaded guilty to perjury in 1993, Newton pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge in 2002, Lewis was sentenced for a drug case, and Cannon admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s.