NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre told lawmakers Tuesday that he had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease while testifying before the House Appropriations Committee investigating the misuse of welfare funds in Mississippi – a scandal that carried the stigma of the Green Bay Packers legend even after his retirement.
At a hearing titled “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Reform: States’ Abuse of Welfare Funds Is Failing Poor Families,” the former quarterback said state officials had “failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse” and then tried to pin the blame on him.
“When this all started, I didn’t know what TANF was. Now I know that TANF is one of the most important social programs in the country to help people in need,” Favre testified.
Former NFL football player Brett Favre testified before the House Budget Committee in Washington on September 24, 2024.
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Favre, wearing a sports jacket, untucked shirt and blue jeans, told the committee he had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I also lost an investment in a company that I thought was developing a breakthrough concussion drug that I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Favre revealed.
Favre said he is subject to a news gag order prohibiting him from discussing details of the case. He has not been criminally charged, but faces a civil lawsuit for lobbying state agencies to obtain federal funds from the TANF program.
At least $77 million in TANF funds intended to benefit poor families were paid to wealthy people instead, according to a Mississippi state audit, ESPN reported.
“I believe I became involved in a civil suit at the instigation of a state auditor for overshadowing an ambitious public official who was determined to damage my reputation in order to advance his own political career,” Favre said.
Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Jason Smith said TANF had been “undermined by rampant waste, fraud and abuse” – leaving fewer benefits for those who really need them.
“But we all know this problem is not limited to Mississippi,” Smith said, citing California and Michigan as other examples. “How big is the problem? What is the rate of improper payments? Nobody knows, because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has never reported an improper payment rate. Together, this lack of protection from the federal government has created the perfect storm for waste, fraud and abuse.”
Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre participates in a question-and-answer session at a fundraiser for the Willowood Developmental Center, a facility that provides education and support for students with special needs, on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, in Jackson, Mississippi.
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Smith said Favre’s testimony “can help shed additional light on the need to pursue reforms regarding states’ ability to spend TANF.”
“We look forward to hearing his insights into how weak federal oversight and self-serving state officials contributed to Mississippi’s fall,” Smith said. “He has seen how embezzlement and mismanagement harm the people welfare is supposed to help. Thank you for coming here and using your name and platform to call attention to the need for stronger federal safeguards on TANF spending so that what happened in Mississippi is not repeated.”
Lawmakers were expected to press Favre on his efforts to fund a volleyball facility at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was a student athlete, as well as Prevacus, a company developing a concussion drug in which Favre had invested significant capital.
Text messages released in legal filings show that Favre lobbied state agencies for funds for the volleyball facility while his daughter was on the team. The university’s athletic foundation received $5 million in TANF funds. Favre donated $1.4 million of his own pocket to build the facility, ESPN reported.
“I wanted to help my alma mater and do something good for the community,” Favre testified. “I had no way of knowing that there was anything wrong with the state funding of the project, especially because it had been publicly approved by many state agencies and several attorneys, including the Attorney General.”
Favre also received $1.1 million in TANF funds for speeches the state auditor said he never gave. He repaid the money, but the auditor also required him to pay $228,000 in interest, according to ESPN.
“Importantly, I have learned that no one has paid or is paying attention to how TANF funds are being spent,” Favre said. “I call on Congress to put guardrails in place to ensure that what happened in Mississippi is not repeated.”
