Exclusive: Former Cowboy Nate Newton on pardon — ‘Tell the president thank you’
When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called Nate Newton and asked to meet him in his office on Thursday, Nate had no clue why the man he lovingly calls Mr. Jones needed to visit.
When Newton walked in Jones’ office, Jerry was sitting behind his desk.
“I have something to tell you, and I don’t want to be casual about this,” Jones told Newton. “You have been pardoned.”
“Hold on, Mr. Jones. I’ve got a lot of crimes; which ones are we talking about?” Newton responded.
Newton figured Jones was just making a joke.
“No, Nate, the president has pardoned you from your crimes,” Jerry said.
“For real?” Newton asked.
For real.
“Thank you very, very much; and please tell the president thank you very, very much,” Newton said.
Newton recounted this exchange to the Star-Telegram in a phone interview Friday morning.
“I really thought he was joking,” Newton said.
Newton, 64, pleaded guilty in 2002 to a federal drug trafficking charge of “conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana.” He was arrested after authorities found $10,000 in his truck, and 175 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of an accompanying car driven by an associate.
This pardon was not the result of Jerry Jones calling President Donald Trump asking for a favor. This pardon had been years in the making, as multiple people worked White House officials on Newton’s behalf to make this possible.
Trump did call Jones to inform him of the news, and asked him to deliver it to Newton personally.
Newton was one of five former NFL players who received presidential pardons on Thursday; the others are Joe Klecko, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Dr. Billy Cannon.
Nate Newton expresses gratitude to Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin
Newton came to the Cowboys in 1986 after he was released by the Washington Redskins, which was followed by a brief time with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL.
He became a starter in 1987, and one of the best interior lineman in the NFL through his final year with the Cowboys, in 1998. In his career with the Cowboys, he was named to the Pro Bowl six times, and first-team All-Pro twice. He played his final NFL season in 1999 with Carolina.
Following his arrest and release from jail, he came back to DFW in hopes of restarting his life.
“Mr. Jones, [former teammates] Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin are the three people who really looked out for me,” Newton said. “I asked Mr. Jones, ‘Give me a chance because I’m trying to do things and a few people are blocking them. I won’t let you down.’”
Jones gave Newton an opportunity to do some broadcast work with the team, a launch point to a successful second act. Newton has become a regular in local Cowboys coverage for more than 20 years.
Nate’s style, vocabulary and delivery are like no one else who has ever lived. The voice. The mannerisms. The sincerity. “I’m tellin’ ya, dawg.” “Bruh.” “Mis-taah Jones.”
When Nate Newton talks about the Cowboys, you know it’s Nate.
“Michael got me in at [ESPN Radio in Dallas], and [former Star-Telegram columnist] Randy Galloway had me on his show for 10 minutes at first,” Newton said. “Then it became 30 minutes. [Current Dallas Mavericks radio voice] Chuck Cooperstein put me on his show.
“[Former Star-Telegram columnist] Jennifer [Floyd-Engel] and I did shows on ESPN together. She was good to me. All of those people believed in me and gave me a chance. This [pardon] is years and years of doing this, and people like them I want to thank; they allowed me to shine and do the right things.”
Nate Newton earned his pardon
In December 2022, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation that pardoned offenses for simple marijuana possession, which was expanded one year later. The proclamation does not include distribution of a drug that is viewed dramatically different today than at the time of Newton’s arrest.
For this pardon to be granted, Newton had to stay on his current path, and needed the right people working on his behalf.
According to the Department of Justice, a presidential pardon “is an expression of the President’s forgiveness. It does not mean you are innocent or expunge your conviction. But it may remove civil disabilities — such as restrictions on the right to vote, to hold office, or to sit on a jury — that are imposed because of the pardoned conviction. It may also be helpful in obtaining licenses, bonding, or employment.”
“There are only a few things in life that excite me: Having a great wife. Good kids. A foundation of God,” Newton said. “When I got that call to find out I was going into the Black College Football Hall of Fame, and then talking to Mr. Jones yesterday — that excited me.
“I don’t take that stuff lightly. People will say, ‘I’ll help you,’ but they’re not there. It’s been that way my whole life. You’ve got front-runners, but I’ve been blessed to have people who had my back when things aren’t going good, and I’m just lucky to have them.”
The pardon granted by the president was not some political favor but an act to a citizen who earned it for a life well lived after a crime committed more than 20 years ago.
