Brett Favre's Foundation Gave $130K to Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre's charitable foundation, Favre 4 Hope, gave more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, whose stated goal is to help fund the school's athletic department and programs.

Katie Strang and Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic reported the news Wednesday.

Favre 4 Hope's stated mission is to assist "charities that provide support to underserved and disabled children and breast cancer patients."

Strang and Kahler reported that more than $130,000 went from Favre 4 Hope to the USM Athletic Foundation:

"Tax records show that Favre 4 Hope gave the USM Athletic Foundation $60,000 in 2018, when no other charity received more than $10,000. The next year, it gave $46,817; the next highest gift, to the Special Olympics of Mississippi, was $11,000. In 2020, Favre 4 Hope sent USM's Athletic Foundation $26,175; no other organization received more than $10,000."

Favre played college football at Southern Miss. He has been linked to a conspiracy to misspend $77 million in welfare funds for Mississippi—which has the United States' highest poverty rate—for other means, including the building of a volleyball facility at USM.

Favre's daughter, Breleigh, played indoor volleyball for the school from 2017 to 2018 and beach volleyball from 2019 to 2022. She joined LSU as a graduate transfer in 2022.

Strang and Kahler summarized the allegations against Favre, who played in the NFL from 1991 to 2010:

"Favre, a Southern Mississippi alumnus, is embroiled in a welfare scandal — extensively reported by nonprofit watchdog Mississippi Today — in which millions of dollars earmarked for people in need were misappropriated. Favre received $1.1 million for speeches he did not make, according to a state auditor report and court documents, and was instrumental in moving more than $5 million in welfare dollars toward the building of the volleyball facility while his daughter was a player on the USM volleyball team. He is among dozens of individuals and organizations being sued by the state. Favre paid back the $1.1 million, though the state says he still owes $228,000 in interest. He has not been charged with wrongdoing and posted on social media that he did not know where the funding for the volleyball facility came from."

Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant allegedly helped Favre secure funding for the volleyball facility, per Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today:

"Never-before-seen text messages show former Gov. Phil Bryant tried to shepherd a proposal to use welfare funds on the construction of a new volleyball stadium for retired NFL player Brett Favre – a project prosecutors have called a scheme to defraud the government. Bryant has previously denied any involvement with the project, which has emerged as the centerpiece of a massive criminal scandal in which prominent officials misspent or stole millions in welfare funds intended for the nation’s poorest residents."

A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported Favre "pushed for" $1.5 million in welfare funds to be used for the construction of an indoor football facility at Southern Mississippi.