From Prison Testimony To Pardon: Gov. Bill Lee’s Full-Circle Moment With Jelly Roll
(ANALYSIS) There was nothing unusual about Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee meeting with singer Jelly Roll before pardoning him for the felony robbery and drug-related crimes in his past.
What the governor didn't realize was that they had met years earlier, when Lee offered a prison testimony about the impact of grief on his family. That audience included the future country music superstar.
At the recent National Prayer Breakfast, Lee said the man whose real name is Jason DeFord told him: "You don't remember me, but we met in 2008. ... You were not the governor, and I was not Jelly Roll. And here we are, 17 years later."
Lee said his Jelly Roll reunion reminded him of truths he learned after his wife's fatal horseback-riding accident in 2000.
“There are very few things in life that matter, and we should be about them,” he said. “I have a belief that within every human being, there's this innate sense that we all need a pardon. And there is only one who can grant that pardon, and He has to be asked. And His name is Jesus.”
The governor was asked to be the keynoter on one day's notice. His testimony contrasted sharply with the politically charged atmosphere at recent prayer breakfasts. In fact, there are now two competing events, with many lawmakers attending the smaller U.S. Capitol event.
News after the larger Washington Hilton rite focused on President Donald Trump's claim that, "I've done more for religion than any other president," referring to his actions on religious-freedom issues at home and abroad.
“As we gather today, there are many signs that religion is coming back," he claimed, referring to reports that statistical declines in religious life have slowed or reached a plateau.
“In the last 12 months, young Americans attended church at nearly twice the rate as they did four years ago," said Trump. Some religious groups report "a 30%, 50% or even 70% increase in the number of converts. ...
“To support this exciting renewal ... I'm pleased to announce that on May 17, 2026, that we're inviting Americans from all across the country to come together on our National Mall to pray. ... We're going to rededicate America as one nation under God.”
Trump added: “Quite simply, prayer is America's superpower.”
Political remarks were muted at the Capitol, although Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, quoted the biblical prophet Jeremiah while praying for soldiers: “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness. ... And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.”
In his prayer at the Capitol, Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, said lawmakers need to "listen to God, listen to the scriptures, listen to the Holy Spirit" and reject the “easy path.”
Instead, they should work to “build this nation on solid ground,” leaning “not on our own beliefs, on our own understanding.”
At the Hilton, Lee avoided politics and focused on how his family recovered after the death of his first wife, Carol Ann.
“I heard it said that ... there are days in our lives that can be described by a simple sentence,” the governor said. "Then there's other days that chapters are written about.”
Before the accident, “I lived a life most men dreamed of living. Beautiful wife, beautiful kids, beautiful home, sprawling farm, prosperous business, loved God with all my heart.”
After the tragedy, Lee said he was a “stunned father who doesn't have any answers” for his four grieving children. His business began to fail.
Striving to “get out of ourselves,” Lee led his family into service projects in Haiti, Mexico, Uganda and South Sudan, building homes and working in orphanages and refugee camps. He became active in prison ministry and education-reform projects. His volunteer work led him into politics.
“What happened to me [was something that] I would never want. But what was happening to me, I would never trade," said Lee. "I started to realize that, at least for me, to the degree that a man is broken, he can experience wholeness. The degree a man understands pain, he can feel real joy. For the first time, I really believe that I understood the brevity of life.”
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Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.