UPDATED 10/11, 7:50 p.m. ET: Brett Favre has finally addressed claims that he was allegedly involved in a Mississippi welfare fund scandal.
In a lengthy statement to Fox News, the Hall of Fame quarterback on Tuesday denied taking any welfare money from the state, while claiming his reputation has been tarnished.
“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre said. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight.
“No one ever told me, and I did not know, that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me,” he continued. “I tried to help my alma mater USM, a public Mississippi state university, raise funds for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the athletic facilities at my university.”
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Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been called out by his former teammate Sage Rosenfels over allegations he engaged in welfare fraud.
“Since retirement, I have been lucky to avoid stealing millions of dollars from the poorest people in my state,” wrote Rosenfels in a tweet that did everything but mention Favre by name. “Of course, this is partially because I had already stolen millions from the richest people in our country,” he added later.
Rosenfels and Favre both played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2009, and the former is clearly not happy about the latter’s alleged fraud. While Favre has denied any wrongdoing, a new extensive report from The New York Times claims that he texted a question to the head of a nonprofit that was sending out funds intended for welfare recipients.
“If you were to pay me,” he wrote in the 2017 text, “is there any way the media could find out where it came from and how much?” Favre is allegedly involved in a scheme that saw $5 million in welfare money diverted from a project that was intended to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre reportedly got $1.1 million in welfare funds, and he denied any involvement despite later paying back the money. He is now facing a lawsuit over unpaid interest on the surrendered funds.
