New court documents show that Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre attempted to gain access to state welfare funds to build a new indoor practice facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, Favre’s alma mater. The Associated Press reported the news Monday.
Favre allegedly requested money from the Mississippi Department of Human Services in July 2019 but was denied the request. The request for funds, which were to be misappropriated for the football practice facility, coincides with the university’s recruitment of one of Deion Sanders’s sons.
Favre, who played quarterback at Southern Miss before being drafted by the NFL in 1991, texted with then-Mississippi governor Phil Bryant that a new indoor practice facility would give the school’s football program “instant credibility.” Bryant replied to Favre that federal money for children and low-income adults was “tightly controlled” and that “improper use could result in violation of federal law.”
The state of Mississippi has filed a civil suit against Favre and several others to recover more than $20 million in misspent state funds that were intended to help individuals on welfare. The civil suit implicating Favre states the former quarterback used welfare money to fund a university volleyball arena at Southern Miss.
Favre’s inquiry into additional funds for a football facility at Southern Miss occurred two years after the state spent welfare funds on the volleyball arena.
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