Brett Favre - welfare scandal: the evidence is damning…

dude is a scammer and pretty despicable. sad. especially when you consider his career earnings exceed $141,000,000 US.

per Katie Strang at the Athletic:

“From 2018-2020, Brett Favre’s charitable foundation, Favre 4 Hope, which has a stated mission to support disadvantaged children and cancer patients, donated more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation during the same years that Favre was working to finance a new volleyball center at the school

“ In the same years Favre was soliciting money to build the volleyball facility, his charitable foundation, which received public donations, significantly increased its contributions to USM’s athletic fundraising arm. Tax records show that Favre 4 Hope gave the USM Athletic Foundation $60,000 in 2018, when no other charity received more than $10,000. The next year, it gave $46,817; the next highest gift, to the Special Olympics of Mississippi, was $11,000. In 2020, Favre 4 Hope sent USM’s Athletic Foundation $26,175; no other organization received more than $10,000.

“Tax records also show that in 2015, when Favre’s daughter was a volleyball player at Oak Grove High in Hattiesburg, the Favre 4 Hope foundation donated $60,000 to that school’s booster club, the largest grant made by Favre 4 Hope that year. The Oak Grove Booster Club subsequently granted $60,349 to the high school with the stated purpose being: “assist to build athletic facility.”

the athletic article is behind a paywall (i have a subscription) but i can post more excerpts from it (it’s a long one, going into details of his charity).

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“ Between Nov. 6 and Dec. 5, 2017, (Nancy) New’s nonprofit made two lump-sum payments totaling a combined $5 million to the USM Athletic Foundation, according to the state auditor’s report. That same month, Favre received his first payment – $500,000 – as part of an advertising agreement with the state’s welfare program, Families First, made with the understanding that the funds would go toward the volleyball facility.

“If you were to pay me,” Favre texted New in 2017, according to court documents, “is there anyway (sic) the media can find out where it came from and how much?”

clearly Favre knew he was doing something wrong.

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In June 2018, ground broke on the volleyball facility – called “The Wellness Center” – which came with a projected cost of $6 million. That same month, Favre received a second payment from New — $600,000 — as part of the advertising agreement to help fund the project. And after making donations to the USM Athletics Foundation averaging $11,125 the previous four years, Favre’s charity donated $60,000.

Favre was in communication with key officials, according to reporting from Mississippi Today, lobbying New, then-Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant and then-USM President Dr. Rodney Bennett for increased funding and workarounds involving construction costs. Favre even texted Bryant in 2018 suggesting prison labor to help construct lockers for the facility.

By 2019, when Favre 4 Hope donated $46,817 to the USM Athletics Foundation, Favre was also working his contacts at Prevacus, a biotech company in which he was reportedly an early investor, to help advance his construction aim.

“I’ve asked Brett not to do the things he’s doing to seek funding from state agencies and the legislature for the volleyball facility,” Bennett wrote to Bryant in January 2020, according to court filings. “I will see for the ‘umpteenth time’ if we can get him to stand down.

“The bottom line is he personally guaranteed the project, and on his word and handshake we proceeded. It’s time for him to pay up — it really is just that simple.”

“That’s was my thoughts (sic),” Bryant responded. “Maybe he wants the State to pay off his promises. Like all of us I like Brett. He is a legend but he has to understand what a pledge means. I have tried many time(s) to explain that to him.”

just to be clear, all that charity money was actually supposed to go to some of the poorest and most disadvantaged families with children in mississippi (as well as cancer patients in the area who couldn’t afford treatment).

instead it was used to build a gym facility for the university his daughter was playing volleyball for (USM).

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A month later, Mississippi state auditor Shad White arrested (Nancy) New and former Mississippi Department of Human Services executive director John Davis, among others, alleging a conspiracy to steal welfare funds. New has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges and to state charges on fraud, bribery and racketeering. Earlier this month, Davis was sentenced to 32 years in state prison after pleading guilty on 20 federal and state charges of conspiracy and fraud.

there’s a lot of football fans who think he’s a like a god. dude is peak privilege. like all society though, professional sports has it’s demographic of D-bags and unfortunately sometimes it’s the superstar players that people put on a pedestal…

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What’s supposed to stop already rich but morally bankrupt people LIKE BRETT FAVRE from taking money out of a poor family’s income to pay for some swanky new campus volleyball court (that he’d later take the credit for doing)? Legal consequences.

As Duke Nukem would say, “Come get some.”

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Here is a better news source, they claim he skimmed nearly $8,000,000 from charity

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that’s just brutal, but not surprising unfortunately. thanks for sharing that article.

regarding his possible removal from the pro football hall of fame, i was looking for the criteria for selection and found this interesting tidbit comparing the football HOF and the baseball HOF:

“… A big part of the problem is that while the Pro Football Hall of Fame explicitly instructs its voters to consider only what a player did on the field, the Baseball Hall of Fame gives its voters carte blanche to consider anything and everything, including character and alleged PED use.”

so i don’t see Favre’s removal from it happening.

I am late here back from from vacation after following this story for months and good, and here is more on the matter as dropped a few hours ago today.

There has been also a whole associated narrative in other social media as to the paltry amount of scrutiny this matter received when Favre was first associated with the scam several months ago.

Favre had claimed he had no knowledge or intent to defraud, which has been clearly proved as lies.

Some other players cited in the past of breaking the law and inflamed in the media reporting well before more evidence came out including Vick and Winston (he was still at Florida State at the time but well on his way to being a very high pick in the NFL draft), but on this Favre jerk it has been all "well, let's wait and see!" with no thanks from the likes of most especially those hypocrites at ESPN who are often the most sanctimonious about themselves and reporting early on matters of wrongdoing.

Most notably, two weeks ago I noticed them running ads for Favre's show on SiriusXM EVEN after the criminal allegations arose!

Only in the last week has it been, "Oh well, we've waited, and we can pull the plug now" when no doubt an untold number of other players in situations of wrongdoing would have been shown the door on the initial reports missing much evidence.

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It’s a comparatively minor matter now though will be at hand later, for I read in a separate article that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is going to revisit the criteria now.

Go figure the irony, for I was in Canton, Ohio for a day and overnight and noticed it as I drove right by on the way back yesterday a few minutes after I hit the freeway.

There is a massive sports complex right by its stadium as well, and it was cool to see the top of the two power line towers on each side of the freeway as yellow tuning fork goal posts. :grinning:

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wow. the hole gets deeper and deeper…

thanks for posting that @Paolo_X

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