Former NFL quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre is in hot water for accepting payments from welfare funds that are supposed to go to the poorer residents of his home state Mississippi.
Favre is accused of helping to misdirect $8.1 million in welfare funds. The monies were for a volleyball stadium and a pharmaceutical startup, and he never made appearances.
He even asked for money to help his alma mater Southern Mississippi recruit current Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Favre is part of a statewide welfare scandal involving misappropriating $77 million funds for the state of Mississippi’s neediest families. Some funds were earmarked for cancer treatment, prevention, and children’s causes.
Another person interested in the scandal is former Oklahoma Sooners running back Marcus Dupree. The former All-America tailback is a Philadelphia, Mississippi, native who had a lawsuit against him in May.
Last Fall, an audit found Dupree — directly and through his own nonprofit — was paid $789,534 intended to help the neediest families in the poorest state in the country. Dupree recently seemed to be denying this and doesn’t want to be put in the same boat with Favre. In an interview, Dupree told ESPN this:
“I don’t appreciate being lumped into something like I took money. I worked too hard on my reputation to do the right thing and be the right person, and I don’t like what’s going on.”
Mississippi’s median household income is a putrid $46,511. It also has nearly 20 percent of its residents living at or below the poverty line.
Dupree was reportedly paid $371,000 in funds from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) over two years. Although he’s now claiming he doesn’t want to be lumped in with Favre, he’s previously told his attorney he has no intention of repaying any of the funds.
Dupree Received Payments As A Celebrity Endorser And Motivational Speaker
While Dupree is claiming innocence in this disappointing scandal, he received payments from MDHS through another charity called Families First For Mississippi. The initiative is said to be operated by two nonprofit organizations, and the lawsuit mentions the former do-it-all tailback receiving funds as a speaker and endorser of sorts.
During the interview with ESPN, Dupree stated he was in the dark on Nancy New, the leader of one of the nonprofits, using misappropriated welfare funds to pay him. He even told ESPN that he “was shocked” to hear that New pleaded guilty to 13 felony charges which include bribery, fraud and racketeering.
Unfortunately for Dupree he is lumped in with any and everybody else that was involved in receiving misappropriated welfare funds.
Favre and Dupree haven’t been formally charged but as of now it’s more guilty-by-association until this unfolds more.
Dupree also said his reputation has taken a noticeable hit.
“I’m getting lumped in with whatever Brett Favre and the governor had going on. I didn’t even know about that, nothing. I was shocked when I heard it. I can’t wait until we go to court. I don’t know what Brett did. I can only speak for Marcus.”
Dupree Was A Can’t Miss Prospect That Floundered After College
The supremely talented Dupree was once a can’t-miss talent. In 1982 he was the top recruit in the nation and chose Oklahoma. While he flashed early on in Norman, his career was marred by injuries. He never made an impact as a pro in either the USFL or NFL.
Marcus Dupree, shortly after signing with the USFL's New Orleans Breakers pic.twitter.com/TcNjWs1bu9
— SportsPaper (@SportsPaperInfo) November 26, 2018
In 2010 ESPN’s acclaimed docuseries, 30 for 30, did a feature on him called “The Best That Never Was.”
