Much remains up in the air as authorities and the media investigate Brett Favre’s alleged role in the welfare scandal that rocked the Green Bay Packers legend’s home state of Mississippi, but some of his partners are already pulling back.
A spokesperson told Front Office Sports that ESPN Milwaukee, a local ESPN affiliate run by Good Karma Brands (an interesting name given the circumstances), said it had “suspended” Favre’s weekly broadcast on the station. show up.
Front Office Sports mentions SiriusXM and 33rdTeam as other media outlets that have existing deals with Favre, although it points out that Favre has been in business since September 13.
Favre’s fading public profile is just one consequence of the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s growing scandal since it first came to light through Mississippi Today’s report in 2020.
Some sponsors are slowly pulling out of Brett Favre
In addition to the loss of media partners, some of Favre’s sponsors are reportedly moving away from him.
According to Front Office Sports, Catholic prayer and meditation app Hallow and medical technology company Odyssey Health have quietly removed content about Favre from their sites. Neither company responded to the outlet’s message.
Not everyone is giving up on Favre, though, as compression sleeve company Copper Fit reportedly issued a statement saying Favre was cleared of wrongdoing two years ago:
“Copper Fit has worked with Brett Favre for almost nine years,” Copper Fit said. “He’s always behaved decently and we know he’s a very decent person. As far as we know, he was cleared of any wrongdoing two years ago. We’re confident the same will be true in civil proceedings.”
Brett Favre’s welfare scandal won’t go away
When Favre’s involvement was first reported, many saw it as an odd quirk in a larger story.
A Hall of Fame quarterback who made more than $100 million in his career took $1 million in benefits to ostensibly give some speeches and cut some commercials. This of course had a bad effect on Favre, who was quick to promise to repay the money (which he did, minus interest), but he benefited a lot from the skepticism.
Favre himself has argued his innocence and worst-case scenario ignorance of it all, claiming he had no idea the money came from the Temporary Assistance Fund for Needy Families, a program designed to help some of the country’s poorest people. federal program.
This “oops, I made a mistake” appearance appeared to be stripped away earlier this month after texts between Favre and some of the alleged (and convicted) leaders of the reporting scheme were published. The report also revealed that Favre allegedly helped divert $5 million in TANF funds to build a volleyball hall at the alma mater of Miss Nan, whose daughter recently played volleyball.
In particular, when Favre wrote this in 2017, it’s hard to see how he didn’t know where his money was coming from:
If you’re going to pay me, can the media find out where it came from and how much?
Favre has since been questioned by the FBI over the alleged plan, and it’s unclear what further repercussions he might face. So far, there have been no reports that he is under criminal investigation, although he still has a civil lawsuit from Mississippi to deal with.
However, given how far the whole story has gone, and how many of the people allegedly involved have entered into plea deals, that might not be pleasant for Favre.