Friday night will mark the Green Bay Packers preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Matt LaFleur’s club is among the Super Bowl favorites, and their veteran quarterback is seeking a rare individual victory.
Aaron Rodgers was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2020 and 2021; it would be a remarkable accomplishment for the Packers quarterback to win the award again in his 39th season. Brett Favre, his predecessor at Lambeau Field, is the only player to win the honor three times consecutively.
The 52-year-old quarterback retired in 2011, his place as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time being indisputable. He represented the Packers from 1992 through 2007 and, like Rodgers, won the Super Bowl.
Longevity also contributes to his fame: he made an NFL-record 297 straight starts over 19 seasons, during which his gunslinging approach — during which his big throws downfield frequently resulted in as many interceptions as touchdowns – won over fans. The record ended in 2010 when, at age 41, he suffered a shoulder injury while playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
The feats of endurance did not come without a price: for a while, Favre was addicted to opioids. But, if anything, his problems made him more popular among the vast swaths of middle America that love a blue-collar hero and make up the majority of NFL fans.
They supported him when his wife, Deanna, was diagnosed with breast cancer (she recovered and established a foundation) and when he attended a rehabilitation facility.
Even the allegation that he sent graphic images to a female sideline reporter – an NFL investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate Favre’s guilt – did not significantly diminish his popularity.
Now, Favre is connected to a sophisticated and widespread welfare fraud case in his home state of Mississippi, which has implicated lawmakers, state officials, and former wrestlers.
And the fact that those who have suffered are the working-class individuals that many believed he represented could create irreparable harm to his standing as an NFL folk hero.
In 2020, it was discovered that up to $94 million in federal monies intended to assist some of the most disadvantaged people in Mississippi, the poorest state in the country, were spent improperly and in some cases criminally.
State auditor Shad White termed the misappropriation, which resulted in criminal charges against six individuals, as the “biggest public fraud in state history.” Last year, White demanded the return of more than $77 million in improperly spent taxpayer funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
The auditor mentioned Favre and three members of the DiBiase wrestling family: Ted DiBiase Sr – who wrestled in the WWF as The Million Dollar Man and then formed a Christian ministry that reportedly collected $1.7 million in TANF monies – and his son Brett, a former wrestler.
Brett DiBiase was allegedly paid $48,000 to conduct drug usage education lectures, but he opted to seek treatment at a posh Malibu rehabilitation center instead. Brett DiBiase pleaded guilty to making false statements in December 2020.
In 2017 and 2018, the Mississippi Community Education Center, one of the two non-profit organizations implicated in the dispute, paid Favre $1,1 million for speaking engagements, promotional appearances, and signature signings.
White stated that there was no evidence that Favre knew the funds originated from improperly spent federal funding, and Favre has not been charged criminally with any of the allegations.
Favre has said nothing in public, but he has refuted the auditor’s contention that he was absent from the relevant events. In 2020, he said that he “has never received money for obligations I have not fulfilled” and that his charity had provided “almost $10 million to disadvantaged and needy children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.” In 2021, he stated that he “would never knowingly accept cash intended to assist our needy friends.”
Favre refunded the $1,1 million, but he disputes not fulfilling his speaking duties. Additionally, the state is asking for $228,000 in interest. In May, Mississippi sued more than three dozen individuals and companies, including Brett Favre, two lesser-known former football players, and the DiBiase’s, to recover nearly $20 million through civil means.
But high appearance fees are not the only reason Favre is scrutinized. The former quarterback, who sustained a concussion on the final play of his career, told Sports Illustrated in 2017 that he had invested in Prevacus, a Florida start-up business trying to produce a nasally delivered anti-concussion neurosteroid.
In April, the mother and son who ran the Mississippi Community Education Center, Nancy and Zachary New, pled guilty to government fraud charges. The section of the case filed in May labeled “illegal diversions of TANF funding to enrich sports superstars” alleges that the News, Brett Favre, and others associated with Prevacus met at Favre’s house, and the center transferred $2.1 million in state welfare grants to Prevacus. Favre has not yet responded to the charges, and his agent did not reply to a request for comment.
Additionally, there is a volleyball facility. Mississippi Today, the leading non-profit news organization reporting the scandal revealed that Nancy and Zachary New used $5 million in welfare monies to build a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre was an ardent supporter of the idea.
One of his daughters played volleyball at the institution, which is his alma school. Last month, Mississippi Today reported that Brad Pigott, an attorney investigating the volleyball payment for the state welfare agency, was fired under disputed circumstances, causing the postponement of scheduled depositions, including Brett Favre’s.
Pigott told that he would have posed “several questions” to Favre, including examining his knowledge of the source of the cash and his comprehension of what constitutes legitimate use of TANF funding.
“The entire pattern of spending millions of dollars frivolously on people who are not in need is as immoral as it is illegal,” Pigott stated. Due to the clear impacts of our state’s discriminatory past, we have enormous demands.”
In the district that Bennie Thompson represents, 38 percent of children live below the poverty level. The democratic representative told that TANF monies should not be used to build volleyball stadiums. “It’s Robin Hood backward. Giving to the wealthy while taking from the poor.”
Thompson added that he is “extremely outraged” by the misuse, which he described as “as heinous as it gets,” and that he desires a comprehensive federal investigation.
“There is no dispute that the money was misappropriated, and there is no question that those who profited from the money were ineligible,” he added. “However, because some of them are wealthy, renowned, and politically connected, there is no sign that they will be indicted.”
In 2019, Favre endorsed the incumbent governor Tate Reeves, characterizing him as a “friend.” Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today demonstrate Favre’s strong contacts with prominent state officials, including former governor Phil Bryant (who has denied any wrongdoing).
The report contains messages in which Favre and his business partner discuss offering Bryant stock in exchange for the governor’s backing of Prevacus (Bryant denies he ever considered taking stock in the company).
In 2020, Brett Favre was the most popular athlete on Cameo, charging $400 for short personalized video greetings. During his career, Favre earned $141 million in pay. He makes periodic appearances in the media, oozing elder-statesman appeal as a former ironman with silver hair, a silky Southern accent, and a laid-back charm.
Early in 2020, Favre told a reporter that one of his proudest accomplishments was his ability to donate so much money and assist so many people. We are not flawless, but we do our best to give back.
As investigations continue, the focus is now on what was stolen during a heinous incident that highlights the power of riches and celebrity, as well as the ideological hostility of conservatives to distributing welfare payments to the poor.
During the same period that Favre, the DiBiases, and other well-connected and wealthy individuals and companies received public funds with minimal monitoring, thousands of suffering families in Mississippi were denied aid valued up to $170 per month for a family of three.
According to ThinkProgress, 11,717 Mississippi people with low incomes filed for TANF benefits in 2016. The state under Republican control approved and registered only 167 individuals.
Carol Burnett told: “Our state has up a plethora of obstacles to obtaining TANF in the first place.” She is the executive director of the Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative, a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the economic security of women.
Burnett noted, “The number of persons on welfare has decreased so drastically that our state currently has slightly more than 200 adults on TANF.” Mississippi has a long history of opposition to federally financed programs that assist the needy. She said, “outraged” when asked how she felt about the welfare issue.
