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Texts show ex-NFL star requested welfare money for football facility

Brett Favre
Southern Mississippi Volleyball Facility
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JACKSON, Miss. — Details of the saga that is the Mississippi welfare scandal continue to emerge.

New court documents filed on Friday reveal that former NFL quarterback Brett Favre pushed then-Governor Phil Bryant in 2019 for money from the state's welfare agency to be spent on an indoor football practice facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, the Associated Press reported.

Bryant replied to Favre that the money was “tightly controlled” and “improper use could result in violation of federal law," the news outlet reported.

According to the Associated Press, this came two years after John Davis, the then-director of the state's Department of Human Services, committed federal money so a volleyball arena at Favre's alma mater could be built.

The news outlet reported that Davis pleaded guilty last week to misusing federal funds to help needy families.

The news outlet reported that Favre hadn't been charged, but the state named him in their civil lawsuit to recover more than $20 million in misspent welfare money.

On Monday, CBS News and People reported that SiriusXM and ESPN had paused Favre's weekly radio show and podcast.