IDIOT OF THE YEAR #2: Brett Favre

If there was justice in the world, NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre would have been canceled long ago after two massage therapists for the NY Jets sued him in 2011, who claimed they lost their job due to a clumsy text message Favre sent to one of the women. Favre denied the allegations and the lawsuit was eventually settled. But a text Favre allegedly sent to another unsuspecting Jets employee looks awfully familiar. The ones everyone knows. (Here we tell you that the victim of that unhealthy incident had never met Breff Favre before — allegedly — texting her.) But, as we always say, professional athletes can do anything to women if they’re good enough in their territory. Favre has denied both then and now.

Unfortunately, Brett Favre was not cancelled. In fact, he has not only been rolled out by the NFL as the Elder Statesman of the Game, but also as a celebrity spokesperson for companies like Copper Fit, Sensodyne, Wrangler and Hyundai. And because of that flattery despite allegedly horrible behavior, Brett Favre was able to do what he’s accused of doing down in Mississippi.

Part of Favre’s image as a small-town boy was his bond with his home state of Mississippi, where he was born, played college ball, and currently resides. Brett Favre is no sissy left coast elitist! He’s a good old boy from below Mississippi, dammit!

Favre’s character is the typical Schtick type and love for his home state alleged role in the diversion of social funds from the needy in Mississippi, the poorest state in the Union by several different metrics, so annoying. Here’s what our Eric Blum had to say on the allegations against Favre in November:

As if Brett Favre’s mistake It wasn’t crazy enough to divert (allegedly) $5 million of Mississippi state welfare funds to build a new volleyball facility in Southern Miss. Two concussion drug companies he backed, who are also implicated in the scandal, exaggerated the known effectiveness of their drugs to raise money, according to one ESPN report.

So was Favre, who had earned over $138 million in his NFL career Grossed $1.1 million to sponsor a government initiative to get some of the $77 million in misappropriated welfare funds for speeches he never gave. Those funds were reportedly a back channel to his volleyball arena project. An audit released in 2020 states that New Favre Enterprises’ Mississippi Community Education Center paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018 to deliver speeches for at least three events. In 2020, Favre was asked to repay the funds but still owes him nearly $228,000 in interest.

Favre said he was unaware that the funds allocated to him for his speeches were charity funds.

If the heinous allegations are true, they cannot be understood without mentioning it less than two percent of those who apply for welfare in Mississippi actually receive it, the lowest acceptance rate in the country. So, poorest state in the county + lowest welfare rate = a whole bunch of people who needed that money a lot more than the University of Southern Mississippi volleyball team.

Favre has denied the allegations and blamed it on the media, saying in a statement to Fox News (of course): “I did nothing wrong and it’s high time the record was set right. No one ever told me, and I didn’t know, that funds destined for welfare recipients go to the university or to me. I was trying to help my alma mater, USM, a Mississippi state university, raise funds for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the sports facilities at my university.”

That would have been a much more credible argument Mississippi FreePress unpublished text messages from Favre to nonprofit founder Nancy New, who has since pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official, anti-government fraud and wire fraud, asking if there was any way the media could find out where the diversion was going ran out funds came out. Good point, Brett.

The whole story is long and horrific and heartbreakingly sad for needy families in Mississippi. But Brett Favre has long been terrible. Too bad it took sports fans so long to figure that out.