Brett Favre Wanted $1.5M from Welfare Agency to Build Southern Miss Football Facility
Former Green Bay Packers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre allegedly sought $1.5 million from a Mississippi State welfare agency to build a football facility at Southern Miss, according to court documents, per A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports.
In text messages to former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant in July 2019, Favre said he wanted the money to build the facility to help lure Shedeur Sanders, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sander's son, to Southern Miss:
“I picked up Deion Sanders and his son who is going to be a junior in high school and plays QB. He has at least 30 offers thus far including us. Deion and I have been great friends since 91’ and have great respect for each other.
“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. … I know we have the [the volleyball center] to complete first and I’m asking a lot.”
Deion is the head coach at Jackson State, and Shedeur, a 4-star prospect in the 2021 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings, ultimately committed to the program.
That $1.5 million Favre sought was in addition to the $5 million in Mississippi's welfare funds that Bryant allegedly helped steer toward building a state-of-the-art volleyball stadium at Southern Miss, where Favre's daughter played the sport.
According to Front Office Sports, the funds for the football stadium were never issued. However, "the project likely would have been funded" if an investigation was never opened into the misuse of Mississippi's welfare funds.
Mississippi was given $70 million from the federal government through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and in March 2020, a state auditor said that the money went to an education center and a family resource center in the state.
However, the money was instead spread out to those who did not need it, including Favre, former WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr., former college football star Marcus Dupree and fitness trainer Paul Lacoste.
Bryant is also accused of paying Favre $1.1 million in 2017 and 2018 to serve as a motivational speaker, appear at promotional events and make radio appearances. Favre repaid the welfare money but has not repaid the $228,000 in interest that he has been ordered to repay.
DiBiase allegedly received over $3 million—which he was given for making motivational speeches—all of which he was ordered to repay. Meanwhile, Dupree and LaCoste were allegedly paid a combined $670,000.
The misuse of welfare funds is considered the "largest public corruption case in the past two decades" in Mississippi.
Favre is not facing any criminal charges.
