Brett Favre withdraws defamation lawsuit against Pat McAfee

Back in late February, Favre filed defamation lawsuits against McAfee, Fox Sports personality (and fellow Hall of Famer) Shannon Sharpe and Shad White, a Mississippi state auditor, for public comments about his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of welfare funds in his home state. 

Favre's purported involvement stems from his relationship with former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who allegedly steered $77 million in public assistance dollars toward his friends. According to lawsuits by the state, Bryant and others directed more than $1 million to Favre for public speaking appearances and $5 million toward the development of a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. (Favre is an alumnus of Southern Miss, and his daughter played for its volleyball team.)

McAfee has had some humorous reactions to the lawsuit on his show, inspiring Favre's lawyer to go far enough to say the lawsuit would bankrupt the defendant. With rumors that McAfee could move his popular platform onto ESPN after choosing to end his deal with FanDuel early, it was pretty clear to see that the former Indianapolis Colts punter wasn't concerned with such a threat.

The entire ordeal has also served as a reminder of the crucial role played beyond the high-wattage platforms of national media personalities. Mississippi Today and its reporter Anna Wolfe recently won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for "The Backchannel," the investigative reporting series that exposed Bryant's alleged scheme. While McAfee's responses to Favre over the last three months have been humorous, nothing he has said or done could cause any more damage to Favre's reputation than what was unearthed by local journalism.