Brett Favre garnered widespread adulation during his 20-year NFL career. The legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback retired with numerous NFL records and a slew of accolades. Favre is a Super Bowl champion, a three-time league MVP, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, among many other noteworthy feats.
Lately, however, Favre is garnering attention for more, shall we say, controversial reasons.
Brett Favre Opens Up on Whitlock’s Podcast
During a recent appearance on Jason Whitlock’s “Fearless” podcast, Favre shared his thoughts on several hot-button topics, including politics and issues regards transsexuality.
Per a recent Fox News article, Favre had this to say when asked about former President Donald Trump:
“I think our country was in better shape with him. … I think Donald was a non-political president, and I liked that about him. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. I’m flawed just like the rest of ’em. We’re all flawed. But I really felt like he had our country in a better place and really cared about our people in our country.”
Favre also expressed himself in regard to which bathrooms he felt transgender individuals should be using.
“To think that a young man who identifies as a girl, I don’t understand it — just hear me out — can go into a girl’s bathroom and use the restroom with girls, and for us to think that’s OK, I think is wrong. I’m sorry…” Favre continued. “I just think some things we’re allowing in this country are beyond belief. … Some of the thoughts and beliefs we’re seeing are crazy.”
Favre also expressed a belief that transgender athletes should compete against competitors with the gender they were born with, rather than the one they’re transitioning to.
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As one might expect, Favre’s remarks didn’t go over well with everyone.
Several folks on Twitter expressed their distaste for Favre’s remarks. This piece by The Comeback’s Kevin Harrish compiled several such reactions.
Unsurprisingly, several folks upset with Favre’s remarks made mention of another controversy he’s currently embroiled in — that being the ongoing Mississippi welfare case.
The case alleges widespread embezzlement. Favre is one of 38 defendants accused of diverting a grand total of $77 million intended for impoverished Mississippi residents, per ESPN’s Anthony Olivieri.
Favre’s end of the controversy is tied to a $5 million donation that his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, received to build a volleyball facility.
Further complicating matters is the fact that Favre’s daughter was on the team at the time.
Favre has continued to deny wrongdoing, stating that he didn’t know the funds granted to his alma mater were done so through nefarious means.
It remains to be seen how that will all shake out.
Favre’s Controversy With Pat McAfee
Favre, to his credit, is pushing back against his detractors. He filed defamation suits against Mississippi auditor Shad White and former football stars Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee.
His litigation with McAfee stems back to an episode of his podcast, “The Pat McAfee Show.” On the show, the former Indianapolis Colts punter stated that Favre was “stealing from poor people in Mississippi.”
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Of course, McAfee took advantage of the situation and used it to drum up interest in his podcast. Notably, he retold an instance where Favre’s lawyer threatened to bankrupt him.
The two recently reached a more amicable solution, however. As per this May 11 ESPN article, Favre is no longer seeking litigation against McAfee. This was due, in part, to McAfee acknowledging that he had no real, intimate knowledge of the case Favre’s embroiled in.
“I’m happy that Pat McAfee and I have settled this litigation,” Favre tweeted. “Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We’d both much rather talk about football.”