Prior to his 20-year career in the NFL, Brett Favre was a star collegiate quarterback at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre’s oldest daughter would follow in her famous father’s footsteps as she became a student-athlete at Southern Miss in 2017. While his daughter was a volleyball team member, Favre committed a heinous act that benefited his daughter and his alma mater.
Mississippi is ranked as the poorest state in the country, but despite the impoverished status, auditors recently revealed the fact that non-profit leaders of the state misspent $77 million in welfare funds. In 2017 and 2018, a portion of the money that was intended for needy families was paid to Brett Favre to make motivational speeches. Favre accepted the $1.1 million, but he never gave the speeches. The auditors demanded that Favre pay the money back with interest.
When the news broke in May 2020, football fans were very disappointed in the former NFL quarterback, who made approximately $140 million during the course of his twenty-year pro football career. The auditor, Shad White, confirmed Favre made a $500,000 payment, and he agreed to pay the remaining balance in installments. The speech incident was a big blow to Favre’s reputation, but the public would later find out that Favre’s hand went a little deeper inside the proverbial cookie jar.
In April 2022, the NFL Hall of Famer was hit with more accusations in regard to the welfare funds. He was accused of coordinating with state officials to direct $5 million towards funding a new volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre denied knowing that the funds were intended for welfare recipients, but unfortunately for Favre, a paper trail of incriminating evidence would suggest he had knowledge of the funds being linked to corruption.
Nancy New ran the non-profit organization that was in charge of the welfare dollars. She recently pleaded guilty to several counts of federal wire fraud. In text messages dated August 2017, Favre sent Nancy New the message, “If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” New responded to Favre’s text by stating the media wouldn’t find out because her organization doesn’t publicize that type of information.
In addition to the money for the speeches and the volleyball facility, court filings also reveal that Brett Favre was in contact with then Governor Phil Bryant in regards to raising money for an indoor practice facility for the Southern Miss football program. “We obviously need your help big time, and time is working against us.” Favre continued his plea by texting, “And we feel that your name is the perfect choice for this facility, and we are not taking No for an answer!”
On September 29, Brett Favre’s charity was linked to more troubling allegations. Favre’s charity, ‘Favre 4 Hope,’ is a charity that was created to help disabled children and breast cancer patients. Tax records obtained by ESPN shows that the charity funneled more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi athletic foundation from 2018-2020.
As of now, Brett Favre hasn’t been charged with a crime, but he is being sued by the state of Mississippi. On the football field, Favre was a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who won a lot of games and set many NFL records, but he was prone to committing turnovers. The interception of Brett Favre’s text messages proves to be the biggest link to connecting Favre to Mississippi’s disturbing welfare fraud scandal.
For more sports news by Vince D’ Writer, click here.
