Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre announced that he will pay back the state of Mississippi for a $1.1 million speaking engagement that he never showed up to give.
On Monday, the state of Mississippi released an audit that detailed how more than $94 million in federal welfare funds were misspent. Among the questionable purchases were vehicles, concert tickets, and $1.1 million in funding for a nonprofit organization tied to Favre.
State Auditor Shad White noted in his audit that the donations to the nonprofit group were for speaking engagement with Favre that he never attended. On Wednesday, Favre announced that he would be repaying the state, starting with a $500,000 check and distributing the remainder in installments.
“I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin,” Favre said in a post to Facebook. “It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”
Favre denied that he failed to deliver what was agreed to between him and the state, saying, “I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.”
White thanked Favre for his decision to repay the state and confirmed that there was no evidence that the former quarterback knew the money was from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole. To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid,” White said in a statement.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is a block grant given to the states to distribute to state programs and nonprofit organizations that assist impoverished families. Over a period of three years, the Mississippi Department of Human Services misspent 90% of the funding in a series of illegal purchases for which former Director John Davis was arrested and five others were charged. Mississippi has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation.
