The NFL Should Consider Removing Brett Favre From The Hall of Fame

By: Melo Williams 

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre the Green Bay Packers football legend, since retired has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind about current events or the state of affairs with the National Football League is being accused of misusing of Mississippi state welfare funds.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a lawsuit in May 2022 against Favre and multiple other people and businesses in an attempt to recover millions of misspent welfare dollars that were intended to help some of the poorest people from the poorest state in the U.S.

It involves money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a federal program that provides grant funds to states and territories to help families in need with state-administered programs that may include childcare assistance, job preparation, and work assistance.

Let us start with the most recent Brett Favre news and rewind which will probably make more sense to many why we are here today. It’s disturbing so I hope you have a strong tolerance for hearing about defrauding the government to intentionally steal from the poorest people in the country.

According to documents, Brett Favre received $1.1 million. Favre was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018 for appearances and speeches at multiple events that he did not attend. Favre said he filmed commercials for the nonprofit organization and that’s why he was given the money. Allegedly the contract stated that Brett needed to give speeches and radio advertisements also and he failed to do so.

Brett Favre’s charity, Favre 4 Hope, donated more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation from 2018 to 2020, according to tax records obtained by ESPN.

Favre gave back the initial payments, but reportedly still owes $228,000 in interest. My question is if Favre held up to his end of the deal, then why give the $1.1 million back?

In response of saying why he paid the money back, Favre tweeted October 29, 2021 “Of course, the money was returned because I would never knowingly take funds meant to help our neighbors in need, but for Shad White to continue to push out this lie that the money was for no-show events is something I cannot stay silent about.”

Favre missed the original deadline to pay the interest, which led to the case being turned over to the state attorney general’s office.

Since the Mississippi Today report made national headlines outlining Favre’s alleged involvement of millions of dollars in welfare funds that were improperly diverted to build a volleyball stadium at Favre’s alma mater, Southern Miss (where Favre’s daughter was also a volleyball player) with Brett Favre being in the center of the investigation and the reason for the investigation for not holding up to his end of the agreement that has Favre looking notoriously dishonest.

According to reports, Favre denied ever speaking to former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant about the stadium, denied knowing where the money for the project came from, and generally denied any knowable wrongdoing whatsoever.

The problem with Favre statements is that text messages have surfaced where Bryant referenced an alleged meeting with Favre about the project, as well as other texts with Favre, allegedly asking an executive involved in the fraud scheme whether the media would ever be able to determine where the stadium project money came from or how much money was contributed.

The $5 million volleyball stadium was not the only project Favre was interested in. In July 2019, Favre also appeared to want money for a new football facility at Southern Miss to help recruit quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders’ son, by luring him with an indoor football facility.

“As I suspected Deion’s son asked where the indoor facility was and I said we don’t have one but we are hoping to break ground in less than 2 years,” Favre texted Bryant, per ESPN. “Now that will not happen without your help/commitment!!! I know we have the Vball to complete first and I’m asking a lot with that and I believe 100% that if you can get this done Nancy will reach and help many and in the recruiting war a new indoor practice facility] will give USM’s football program instant credibility and USM football will become relevant again.”

ESPN reported that Billy Quin, a lawyer representing Bryant, said a court filing shows that Favre “continued to press for state funds, first from DHS and later in a legislative appropriation.”

On July 28, 2019, Bryant texted Favre that the use of the funds is “tightly controlled” and that “any improper use could result in violation of Federal Law. Auditors are currently reviewing the use of these funds.”

Just over a month later, on Sept. 4, 2019 text messages show Favre putting more pressure on Bryant.

“We are not taking No for an answer! You are a Southern Miss Alumni, and folks need to know you are also a supporter of the University,” Favre wrote.

“We are going to get there. This was a great meeting. But we have to follow the law. I am too old for Federal Prison.” Bryant replied, adding an emoji wearing sunglasses.

In April 2022, Mississippi Today reported that Brett Favre briefed Bryant on Prevacus, a pharmaceutical company in which Favre was a top investor. Per report, the company received $2.15 million from the scheme. Some of the text messages obtained by Mississippi Today showed that Prevacus founder Jake Vanlandingham and Favre offered Bryant shares of the company.

Favre was also linked to other questionable business dealings. One involved litigation over a bankrupt digital sports media company Sqor (which was ultimately thrown out), and in another case, a U.S. Justice Department investigation of Rx Pro, a brand that Favre endorsed heavily came under public scrutiny for statements made about pain-relieving creams that hadn’t been approved yet by the FDA.

In the past Brett Favre made headline news for comments made about athletes kneeling, George Floyd being murdered, and tweeting he was voting for former president Donald Trump which he has every right to do so.

In 2016, then San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to protest against racial inequality, social injustice, and police brutality. Kaepernick protest was joined by other NFL players and athletes from other sports. Favre said “he believes athletes who kneel during the national anthem have “created more turmoil than good.”

One day after Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd, Brett Favre said he did not think the former Minneapolis police officer meant to kill Floyd. “I find it hard to believe, and I’m not defending Derek Chauvin in any way, I find it hard to believe, first of all, that he intentionally meant to kill George Floyd,” Favre said. “That being said, his actions were uncalled for. I don’t care what color the person is on the street. I don’t know what led to that video that we saw where his knee is on his neck, but the man had thrown in the towel.”

We can’t forget in the final weeks of Favre career, the NFL said Favre failed to fully cooperate with a league investigation into whether he sent former New York Jets employee Jenn Sterger multiple unsolicited photos of his penis while both were with the team in 2008. The NFL fined Favre $50,000 in the wake of that investigation in 2010.

Then in 2013, a civil settlement was reached over a lawsuit brought by two massage therapists in response to allegedly sexually suggestive text messages Brett Favre sent when he played for the New York Jets in 2008.

Remember when Jay Glazer reported that Favre had given Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen intelligence on the Packers during Favre’s season with the Jets. Of course, Favre denied it.

Besides Brett Favre’s legal issues, Favre made several surprisingly eyebrow-raising comments like when he opened up to Peter King in the late 90’s admitting he went to rehab three times in his career for substance abuse, he also said he sustained “thousands” of concussions during his playing career, and he also told Peyton Manning he didn’t know what a nickel defense was in the NFL until he asked Ty Detmer.

For 20 years in the NFL, the story of Brett Favre was told as an example of the “American Dream”. Born and raised in small town Kiln, Mississippi was coached in high school by his dad Irvin Favre, then earned one scholarship offer from Southern Mississippi despite running a wishbone offense that rarely allows a quarterback to showcase his arm.

Brett had an outstanding NFL career. He’s a Hall of Famer. His career included two Super Bowl appearances winning one when the Packers defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. He has three straight league MVPs, had countless passing records at the time he retired, is known as the “Iron Man” of the National Football League with a streak of 297 consecutive starts that is unlikely to ever be broken while earning the admiration of the late great John Madden who nicknamed Favre the “Gunslinger” that every commentator eventually referred to Brett Favre as.

Favre had iconic rival friends like Warren Sapp, Deion Sanders, Michael Strahan, and longtime teammate and close friend Donald Driver. He established relationships with Peter King, Dan Patrick, and Ed Werder some of the biggest names in journalism.

The disturbing reality for many is during Favre’s playing days he had a darkside personality that became more public the closer he got to retirement besides when he admitted himself to rehab for a painkiller pill addiction that he was somewhat praised for and forgotten about by many.

For the public criticism and the optics of it all, Favre looks like he’s got a lot of significant explaining to do. However, with an explanation or without one, it’s evident Brett played a huge role with his priviledge and influence in scheming and embezzling millions of dollars away from the poorest people in Mississippi so that a volleyball stadium and football practice facility could be built.

Yes we know Brett’s primary home is in America’s poorest state, he’s from Mississippi so that’s expected. Yes, we know Brett has statues outside his high school stadium and inside the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Yes, it’s a classic story of making it to the NFL.

In reality, Favre story isn’t any different than many Black professional athletes who had struggles and all odds stacked against them growing up. I mean his closest friend Donald Driver grew up living out of a U-Haul truck. I’m not trying to compare poverties, only speaking on perspective.

From a football and race perspective combined as one, how it usually is when it comes to how athletes are viewed in the public, Brett has absorbed most of it, if not all of his bad press and headlines. One would say maybe the NFL enabled Favre.

It also makes one say how would it be if someone like Lamar Jackson a Black QB, an MVP checked into rehab suddenly for painkiller addiction, would he be given a pass or would it always hang over his career? Would Lamar have been suspended and fined for sending nude pics to a staff member, or banned from the league? Could a Black quarterback ever say the same things Favre did? I’m not condoning Michael Vick’s dog-fighting decisions but he was demonized in the media and the public court of opinion and he had to overcome so much opposition to be reinstated in the NFL. Terrell Owens waited three years to be inducted into Canton because voters didn’t like that he was outspoken and wasn’t the best teammate according to some people. Perspective!

Brett wasn’t alone in the fraud scandal but is the biggest name involved. The Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a lawsuit in May 2022 against Favre, three former pro wrestlers, and multiple other people and businesses in an attempt to recover millions in welfare dollars. According to the lawsuit, Ted DiBiase Sr. — a former wrestler known as “The Million Dollar Man” — ran Heart of David Ministries Inc. and received $1.7 million in welfare grant money in 2017 and 2018 for mentorship, marketing, and other services. One of his sons, Brett DiBiase, pleaded guilty to his role in the scandal in December of 2020.

Recently, two of Favre’s weekly shows on ESPN Milwaukee and SiriusXM were suspended due to his involvement in the scheme.

The main takeaway I want people to take from this Mississippi fraud scandal involving Brett Favre and others, we should continue questioning the entitlement, privilege, and politics of how the rich and influential manipulate the system to essentially steal tax dollars from the people in America that need it most.

We know no one is perfect but none of Brett’s off-the-field decisions in his past and recently present actions resemble a spotless reputation how Brett Favre is celebrated by the NFL.

Brett Favre isn’t being charged criminally at this time for his role with anything in Mississippi’s welfare scandal but his public image is probably taking a harder hit than he ever took from Warren Sapp or John Randle during his playing days.

I don’t believe many people believe he didn’t know where the money was coming from and for that it’s going to be hard to forgive and forget this act by Brett Favre.

If the NFL is really about the image of the shield, I must ask, is it time for the NFL to start considering removing Brett Favre from the Hall of Fame in Canton, OH? If that’s too extreme, at minimum the NFL needs to tone down the celebratory of Brett Favre as this great hero of outstanding character.