On Brett Favre’s Welfare Scandal
By Thom Weidlich for PRCG | Haggerty LLC
Talk about a reputational challenge. The heat keeps turning up on ex-NFL quarterback Brett Favre. As part of a larger scandal, he’s alleged to have pressured Mississippi officials to turn over $8 million in welfare funds for his pet projects, including a volleyball stadium at his alma mater. And yet Favre seems to be doing nothing to defend his rep (such as it is).
The crisis, simmering for years, could scorch the former gridiron star, especially in his home state (Mississippi), where he’s been a favorite son. That good standing may not stand. Conversely, some say he has no good rep to defend. For example, during his career he was banned from drinking alcohol and was fined for not cooperating about a sexting allegation against him. His post-retirement image has been sort of clownish.
Favre hasn’t been criminally charged in the welfare scandal, as some others have, though he’s one of many defendants in a civil suit the state brought in May.
Text Messages
Still, for Favre, the pocket continues to collapse, especially with the trickling out of damning text messages. In 2019, he was working with then-Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to build the new volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport. Favre was raising money for the project, but now it’s come out how he allegedly did that, and it isn’t pretty.
Favre kept pushing the governor even after he told the ex-pro that misuse of the welfare funds could be illegal. Favre has denied knowing that such funds would be used. That’s hard to square with the texts. For more, click here.