Former NFL star quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre has filed suit against two former NFL stars and the Mississippi State Auditor in response to their comments regarding his alleged involvement in a $77 million Mississippi welfare fraud case.
Pat McAfee, NFL Hall of Fame member Shannon Sharpe who works for Fox Sports 1, and auditor Shad White are named in the suit claiming they defamed Favre with comments about his alleged role in the welfare scam. Pat McAfee addressed the suit on his show and didn’t seem that concerned. The New York Post had this to say:
A day after Brett Favre filed lawsuits against Pat McAfee, Shannon Sharpe, and Mississippi state auditor Shad White, alleging each of defaming him in public discussions about the misspending of welfare money, McAfee hit back at the former Packers quarterback.
“I’m getting sued by Brett Favre,” McAfee, a former All-Pro punter for the Colts, said on his show on Friday. “I’m getting sued alongside Shannon Sharpe and an auditor from Mississippi by Brett f–king Favre. Brett Favre’s suing me in a defamation lawsuit, saying I defamed his name to try to earn a profit.”
McAfee, one of the most unfiltered, raw voices in the sports media industry doesn’t deny using Favre’s name and the story in an attempt to make a profit. However, the former punter is very clear that he used the one magic word that he feels makes the difference: “allegedly”.
McAfee was given very explicit directions from Brett Favre’s legal team involving deleting all mentions of Favre and the case and issuing a public apology. Apparently, they don’t know McAfee. He went on to say via the Post:
“First letter was, ‘We would like you to go back and erase every single video that has Brett Favre’s name mentioned in it from your YouTube library, your Twitter library and everything else,’” he said. “So I looked at that and said, ‘That is hilarious! Of course we’re not doing that.’
“I said, ‘That is hilarious, of course we’re not doing that’ … There’s one word I believe that was said off it, on this particular program, if you’re going to watch it all, and that would be ‘allegedly,’” he said. “Our job is to report the news. … We owe the sports media world our coverage of it. We take our job seriously as journalists.”
“Then a few days later, ‘You have until Wednesday, this Super Bowl week, 8:30 p.m. ET to issue a public apology to Brett Favre and erase all of the video in your catalog that involves Brett Favre’s name.”
Favre is accused of helping raise money for a University of Southern Mississippi volleyball center but has denied knowing that a $5 million grant came from a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare fund through the Mississippi Community Education Center.
The state of Mississippi is suing 38 people or companies in an attempt to recoup $24 million of $77 million in federal welfare money. At least 1.1 million of that Favre allegedly gave to his alma mater for a new volleyball facility. Favre has paid that back, but there is inappropriate text message allegation still to be sorted out. For McAfee’s part, he will let the court sort it out. The Post concludes:
“A lot of people are wondering how my lawyers are gonna handle this,” McAfee said about the lawsuit. “You know it, I ain’t got ’em. So let’s ride this f–ker. I’m excited to see how it goes. I’ll see you in court pal.”
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