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Brett Favre has spent the past few years embroiled in a scandal concerning the misuse of welfare funds in Mississippi, and he’s still on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars after the state accused him of failing to pay back the money he owes in a timely manner.
If you’re familiar with Brett Favre, you know he had some trouble staying out of trouble during his time in the NFL, and he once again ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons courtesy of a saga that began to unfold in 2020—although you have to go back a bit further to understand exactly what went down.
In the 2010s, the state of Mississippi received an annual federal grant to the tune of more than $85 million that incentivized the state to put the money toward services designed to help families struggling on the financial front. The distribution of those funds was supposed to be overseen by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, which fell victim to some good, old-fashioned bureaucratic corruption.
In 2020, six people were arrested in connection to an audit that determined $94 million had been put to questionable use, which included the $1.1 million Favre received for three speaking engagements sponsored by the Mississippi Community Education Center—appearances he never actually fulfilled.
Favre (who has not been charged with any crime) asserted he had no knowledge of the scheme he found himself linked to after taking money that was earmarked for needy families who live in the state where he resides, although that claim clashes with text messages that suggest he knew something was amiss.
While he did agree to reimburse the state, The Clarion-Ledger reports Mississippi Auditor Shad White says Favre still needs to fork over $729,790—a number that will continue to grow each day due to the interest the retired quarterback is accruing.
As the outlet notes, Favre did pay back $500,000 in 2020 before cutting a check for $600,000 in 2021 to satisfy the principal after White called him out for failing to follow through on his promise to repay, and the auditor has taken aim at him once again, saying:
“It boggles the mind that Mr. Favre could imagine he is entitled to the equivalent of an interest-free loan of $1.1 million in taxpayer money, especially money intended for the benefit of the poor.”
Favre is also currently listed as one of the 38 defendants in a civil suit that was filed in 2023 in an attempt to scrape back the pilfered funds, so he could be forced to hand over even more dough when everything is said and done.