If there have been any justice on the earth, NFL Corridor of Famer Brett Favre would have been canceled way back, after two therapeutic massage therapists for the NY Jets sued him back in 2011, claiming they misplaced their jobs on account of a crude textual content message Favre despatched to one of many ladies. Favre denied the allegations and the lawsuit was ultimately settled. Nevertheless it sounds awfully acquainted to a textual content Favre allegedly despatched to a different unsuspecting Jets’ worker. The one everyone knows about. (That is the place we inform you that the sufferer in that unwholesome incident had by no means even MET Breff Favre earlier than he —allegedly — texted her.) However as we all the time say, professional athletes can do something to ladies in the event that they’re ok on the sphere. Favre has denied any wrongdoing, each then and now.
Alas, Brett Favre was not canceled. Actually, he was rolled out not solely as an elder statesman of the sport by the NFL, however as a celeb spokesman for firms like Copper Match, Sensodyne, Wrangler, and Hyundai. And it’s due to that adulation regardless of alleged horrible conduct that Brett Favre was in any place to do what he’s accused of doing down in Mississippi.
A part of Favre’s “aw shucks” small-town boy picture was his attachment to his residence state of Mississippi, the place he was born, performed his faculty ball, and presently resides. Brett Favre ain’t no sissy left coast elitist! He’s ole boy from down Mississippi, goll darn it!
That common man schtick and love of his residence state is what makes Favre’s alleged role in diverting welfare money from the needy in Mississippi, the poorest state in the Union by a number of totally different metrics, so galling. Right here’s what our Eric Blum had to say in regards to the allegations towards Favre again in November:
As if Brett Favre’s blunders in (allegedly) diverting $5 million of Mississippi’s federal welfare cash to construct a brand new volleyball facility at Southern Miss wasn’t loopy sufficient, two concussion drug firms he backed which can be additionally entangled within the scandal overstated the recognized effectiveness of their medication to lift cash, in line with an ESPN report.
Favre, who was paid over $138 million in his NFL profession, was additionally funneled $1.1 million to advertise a state initiative, a portion of the $77 million in misspent welfare funds, for speeches that he by no means delivered. These funds had been reportedly a backchannel to his volleyball enviornment undertaking. An audit launched in 2020 stated that New’s Mississippi Neighborhood Training Middle paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018 to make speeches for no less than three occasions. In 2020, Favre was ordered to repay the funds, however nonetheless owes practically $228,000 in curiosity.
Favre has stated he was unaware the funds directed to him for his speeches had been welfare-designated funds.
If the odious allegations are true, they will’t be understood with out mentioning that less than two percent of those that apply for welfare in Mississippi really get it, the bottom acceptance fee within the nation. So, poorest state within the county + lowest welfare acceptance fee = an entire lot of people that wanted that cash way more than the College of Southern Mississippi’s volleyball workforce did.
Favre has denied the allegations and blamed the media, saying in an announcement to Fox Information (in fact), “I’ve achieved nothing flawed, and it’s previous time to set the file straight. Nobody ever instructed me, and I didn’t know, that funds designated for welfare recipients had been going to the College or me. I attempted to assist my alma mater USM, a public Mississippi state college, elevate funds for a wellness heart. My objective was and all the time might be to enhance the athletic services at my college.”
That might be a way more plausible argument had the Mississippi Free Press not launched textual content messages from Favre to non-profit founder Nancy New, who has since pled responsible to bribery of a public official, fraud towards the federal government, and wire fraud, asking if there was any manner the media might learn the way the place the diverted funds got here from. Good pondering, Brett.
The complete story is lengthy and horrible and devastatingly unhappy for needy households in Mississippi. However Brett Favre has been horrible for a very long time. Unhappy it took sports activities followers this lengthy to determine that out.
