Like many superstar athletes, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre is known for more than just what he did on the field — for better or worse.
The Packers legend, who was the embodiment of grit during an NFL-record 297 consecutive starts, became embroiled in controversy at times during his 20-year career and has found himself in the headlines after his career as well.
Still an active presence on social media and even in politics at times, Favre hasn’t exactly retreated from the limelight even amid criticism.
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Here’s a look at Favre’s controversies through the year, from his 2010 sexting scandal to his Mississippi welfare misuse scandal.
Brett Favre controversies and scandals timeline
Painkiller addiction (1995-1996)
Favre revealed after his NFL career that he had three separate stints in a rehab facility to deal with a painkiller addiction while with the Packers in the 1990s. The addiction first came to light after he suffered a seizure as a result of his addiction in 1996; he was the subject of an NFL investigation and would have been fined if he didn’t check into rehab, where he spent 46 days in the spring of 1996.
The Hall of Famer said he took 14 Vicodin pills at one time during part of the 1995 season, which ended with his first MVP award. “That year, when I woke up in the morning, my first thought was, ‘I gotta get more pills,'” Favre told Sports Illustrated in 2018.
Favre said he began abusing painkillers after an injury in 1994 and suffered from alcoholism at the time as well. He said in 2018 that he hadn’t touched any alcohol or drugs in two decades.
Favre falls over as Michael Strahan breaks sack record (2001)
Many have accused Favre of going down voluntarily on a record-breaking sack by Michael Strahan at the end of the 2001 season.
Strahan, who was a half-sack away from tying Mark Gastineau’s single-season sack record, got a chance to take down Favre, but the Packers quarterback seemingly took himself down as Strahan approached rather than try to make a play. The sack gave Strahan the record at 22.5, and Gastineau evidently never let the incident go.
“You really hurt me, Brett,” Gastineau told Favre in a confrontation captured by ESPN’s “The New York Sack Exchange” documentary. Gastineau said Favre “fell down for [Strahan], though Favre believes he was justified in going down voluntarily.
“I booted out of a run thinking it would be wide open, saw Strahan standing there and ducked down,” Favre tweeted in 2024. “The game was over. There was no need for me to do anything spectacular.”
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Unretirement drama with Packers, Vikings (2008-2010)
Favre continued to play at a high level deep into the 2000s, but as he aged, the prospect of retirement became a storyline surrounding the Packers quarterback. Because of his indecisiveness, the saga lasted for three years.
2008
Favre announced his retirement in 2008, saying during a press conference, “I know I can play, but I don’t think I want to.”
Many speculated that Favre could still return to the field, an idea he outright denied at first, but he informed the Packers in June that he wanted to return. With Aaron Rodgers set to take over as the starter for Green Bay, the Packers told Favre that returning to the team wasn’t an option. Each side dug in their heels, and Favre was ultimately traded to the Jets just weeks before the start of the 2008 season after requesting his release.
The Packers also filed tampering charges against the Vikings during the saga, alleging that Minnesota made inappropriate contact with Favre.
2009
Favre quietly retired again after the 2008 season, with his agent telling media outlets, “He’s retired, working on his farm in Mississippi.” After the Vikings expressed interest in Favre, Minnesota coach Brad Childress confirmed during the summer that Favre was going to remain retired. That changed in mere weeks, with Favre joining the Vikings shortly before the 2009 season and leading the team to the NFC championship game.
2010
Favre spent the 2010 offseason unsure of his playing status before informing the Vikings in August that he would not be returning due to the slow recovery of an ankle injury he suffered the previous season. While not an official retirement announcement, that appeared to close the door on Favre’s time with the Vikings and likely his NFL career — until two weeks later, when he was persuaded to return for a second season in Minnesota.
Favre might have stuck around one year too late, as he threw 11 touchdowns and 19 interceptions while playing through pain in a lost season for the Vikings.
Sexting allegations with Jenn Sterger (2010)
Favre was accused by the Jets’ former in-stadium “Gameday Host” of sending unsolicited, explicit photos and inappropriate voice messages while with New York in 2008.
The allegations from Jenn Sterger surfaced in 2010 and resulted in an NFL investigation, but the league didn’t punish Favre for anything other than failure to cooperate with the investigation. Forensic analysts couldn’t determine that it was Favre who sent the photos in question, according to the NFL.
The then-Vikings quarterback, who was playing out his final season, was fined $50,000. The NFL said its job was not to “make judgments about the appropriateness of personal relationships,” and the scandal never turned into any kind of criminal matter.
The sexting scandal with Sterger was part of a turbulent 2010 season that brought Favre’s NFL career to an official end, though.
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Controversial health and political comments (2010s-2020s)
COVID-19 and vaccine statements
Favre upset some fans by expressing hesitance about the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
“The vaccine, or the vaccines, that have been administered within the last six to eight months didn’t go through a 20 or 30-year human trial study that FDA requires,” Favre said on CNN, “We’re sort of the human trials if you will.”
Favre defended NFL players who were skeptical of the vaccine, even as the NFL implemented stricter rules for unvaccinated players.
National anthem and political statements
Favre cautioned against the intersection between politics and sports in 2021, explaining that he doesn’t want to watch “what’s going on outside of the game” when he turns on a game and adding that he has heard the same sentiment from fans he speaks to.
In 2020, however, he took a neutral stance on players kneeling for the national anthem. “I don’t know what it’s like to be Black,” Favre said. “It’s not for me to say what’s right and what’s wrong. I do know we should all be treated equal.”
In 2025, Favre blasted ESPN for not airing the national anthem before the Sugar Bowl, which was postponed following a terror attack in New Orleans. “Woke is a joke,” Favre tweeted.
Favre campaigned for U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election and golfed with Trump during the president’s first term.
Mississippi welfare fraud scandal (2020s)
Favre became embroiled in controversy in 2022, when he was accused of misusing millions in welfare funds from the state of Mississippi.
Unearthed texts revealed Favre sought funding from the state for a new volleyball facility at Southern Miss, where he played football and his daughter was playing volleyball at the time.
“If you were to pay me, is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Favre asked a nonprofit director, who contacted then-Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant about the funds.
Records also showed Favre was paid a total of $1.1 million for speeches he did not give, though he claimed he was paid to record commercials for the nonprofit organization. The money came from funds set aside to assist poor families in Mississippi, and Favre was ordered to pay back the money to the state.
The funds misappropriated to Favre were just a drop in the bucket relative to the $94 million Mississippi’s Department of Human Services was accused of misappropriating. Favre also successfully lobbied Mississippi to give $2.1 million to an experimental drug company he had invested in.
Favre was never criminally charged as part of the scandal, which stretched well beyond just one individual, but he was questioned by the FBI and testified in front of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
In 2024, Favre blamed the state for dragging his name into the scandal. “The challenges my family and I have faced over the last three years because certain government officials in Mississippi failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse,” he said during congressional testimony.
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