Testifying Tuesday earlier than the House Ways and Means Committee, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre stated in a ready assertion that he was just lately identified with Parkinson’s illness.
Favre, 54, was testifying about welfare abuses in Mississippi and allegations that he and others used Temporary Assistance for Needy Families state funds for private and company features. Favre, who earned about $140 million throughout a 20-year NFL profession that resulted in 2010, stated in his assertion that he was unaware he was receiving welfare funds and was misled by public officers.
A Mississippi state audit discovered that $5 million in TANF funds paid for the development of a volleyball area at the University of Southern Mississippi — Favre’s alma mater — and that $1.7 million was paid to Prevacus, an organization creating concussion remedy. Favre’s daughter was a volleyball participant at Southern Mississippi at the time and Favre is an investor in Prevacus, whose founder, Jacob VanLandingham, pleaded responsible to wire fraud in July.
Favre, who has not been charged criminally, repaid $1.1 million in TANF cash for speeches he by no means gave. The Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a civil lawsuit towards him and different defendants, citing textual content messages between Favre and officers as proof of his involvement in embezzling funds.
Favre, a Green Bay Packers legend, performed in additional than 300 NFL video games and has lengthy advocated analysis into concussions and ensuing mind trauma. Asked on the “Today” present in 2018 what number of concussions he suffered, Favre replied that he was identified with “three or four” however believed the true quantity was far greater.
“When you have ringing of the ears, seeing stars, that’s a concussion,” Favre stated on the present. “And if that is a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands, throughout my career, which is frightening.”
A 2020 research revealed within the journal Family Medicine and Community Health decided that “regardless of age, sex, socioeconomic status and residence, having suffered a single concussion in one’s lifetime increased the likelihood of later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by 57%.”
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Favre advised the House committee Tuesday.
Favre was portrayed in court docket filings within the embezzlement case as a keen participant within the scheme that allegedly diverted hundreds of thousands of {dollars} meant for the poorest individuals within the nation’s poorest state.
Court paperwork and textual content messages outlined his alleged involvement in diverting TANF cash. Favre and then-Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant mentioned by way of textual content utilizing $5 million to assist construct the volleyball area at Southern Mississippi.
Favre additionally exchanged textual content messages with Nancy New, govt director of the training middle chargeable for allocating hundreds of thousands in authorities funds.
“If you were to pay me, is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Favre reportedly requested her in 2017.
New, who later pleaded responsible to 13 felony counts of fraud, bribery and racketeering for her position within the theft of TANF funds, replied: “We never have that information publicized.”
Journalist Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today revealed the payouts in a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of articles beginning in April 2022.
