Ravens Insider: Former Ravens RB Jamal Lewis on presidential pardon, Hall of Fame chances

[ExtremeRavens]

Former Ravens running back Jamal Lewis received the phone call Thursday night from Alice Marie Johnson, President Donald Trump’s “pardon czar”

Lewis said she graciously told him around 8 p.m. that all the charges from his 2004 drug conspiracy case had been dropped. Lewis eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and using a cellphone in the commission the drug sale.

Trump granted four other pardons to four other NFL players: Joe Klecko, Nat Newton, Travis Henry and the late Dr. Billy Cannon.

“There is a certain amount of freedom that I can now enjoy,” Lewis told The Baltimore Sun on Friday from his home in Atlanta. “I can now vote, I can carry a firearm, and now I can engage in certain businesses that I wasn’t allowed to invest in before.

“And maybe, just maybe, I can get into the Hall of Fame now because those illegal charges carried a lot of weight in the voting process.”

Lewis played for the Ravens from 2000 through 2006 and spent his final three seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Without the power back, the Ravens would never have won the Super Bowl championship during the 2000 season. Baltimore had a great defense with outstanding players like linebackers Ray Lewis, Peter Boulware and Jamie Sharper, and defensive linemen Rob Burnett, Sam Adams, Michael McCrary and the late Tony Siragusa, but the offense was one-dimensional.

The running game was featured, and it was all Lewis.

Lewis was the NFL’s rushing leader in 2003 with 2,066 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He finished his career with 10,607 yards rushing, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. He had seven seasons in which he rushed for more than 1,000 yards, including 1,364 yards during the Ravens Super Bowl run in 2000.

Lewis, though, said he was never a Trump supporter.

“Actually, I was disgruntled with the entire judicial system,” he said. “But Alice Johnson was like my angel in the sky. She said she just wanted to help me out, and I am delighted because it lifted a lot of weight off my shoulders.”

Lewis said he had approached the Biden and Obama administrations about pardons in past years. Neither of those two administrations agreed, but Lewis said that didn’t stop them from asking for campaign contributions for as much as $25,000 to $75,000.

He said he got the news Thursday night after going to a workout with his son, Jazz Lewis, at Milton High School in Atlanta.

“I always tried to persuade the previous administrations about this injustice, that I was basically set up but I could never get an audience until now,” Jamal Lewis said. “[Johnson] told me last night that I was doing well and working with the kids in Atlanta. I’m just glad someone took my side of the story and that it has all worked out well. I thank this administration for finally weighing in on a difficult subject matter.”

Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. 

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