There is a bar in the center of Kiln that has faded into the wood. There is a gold New Orleans Saints logo next to a yellow Minnesota Vikings logo in the front door of the building.
Kiln, a town of less than 2,500 people along the Gulf Coast, is less than an hour from New Orleans, but the hometown team always employed the man who went on to play for the Packers.
He belonged to his hometown more than any other place. In the parking lot, there are framed photos of bar regulars at Lambeau Field, with Wisconsin license plates and a yellow-and-green three-wheeler that one of the bar owners rode through the room to high-five patrons after scoring a touchdown. His mother was a regular.
Cars lined up on Kiln-Picayune Road.
The bartender says that those were the days.
According to a state audit, at least $77 million of TANF funds line the pockets of rich and powerful Mississippians, as a result of the largest case of public fraud in Mississippi history. Five of the six people arrested have pleaded guilty. It has not been charged with a crime.
The most famous son was cheered on by Mississippi. One of its gridiron greats is linked to a welfare scandal that directly affects the needy in a state with the highest poverty rate and the highest Black population. There are long faces and short answers when you bring up all that in various parts of Mississippi.
Hot Rod said that it broke your heart.
Chris looked up from his beer. Chris grabbed one of the bottles that he discarded behind the bar. It's like that.
Hot Rod says he just wants to focus on the good times, many of them watching Favre in this bar made him happy. The person he knows is an upstanding citizen.
He doesn't have time to worry about people fighting over a lot of money. We have our own issues. It's not my business.
Hot Rod is looking at the faded paint. On that day in January 2010, the quarterback rolled right, threw across his body and was thrown out of the game. They lost in overtime. Hot Rod doesn't talk about that. He talks about the past.
There was a line stretching from the bar top to the front door. The Saints and Vikings fans are on opposite sides.
Either way, with or against him.
Since FAVRE's connection to the investigation became public, the administrative assistant at the Mississippi state auditor's office has received different versions of the same phone call.
People debate her on the merits of the audit ten to fifteen times a day. There are calls from Las Vegas, Chicago, New Orleans and Mississippi.
One woman said that she didn't think everyone understood it. Mr. White needs to go away.
Sometimes, the messages come by email. White says he's received physical threats and that he stopped reading his Facebook messages. We get a lot of calls from people who say, 'Thank you for doing what you do,' but we also get a lot of calls from people who say, 'Don't mess with him.'
The auditor says he never made any speeches, but the state audit says he did. The state is trying to recover $228,000 in interest. Prevacus received funds as well as the top investor and stockholder in the company. The University of Southern Mississippi received $5 million in welfare money. Text messages show that when his daughter was on the volleyball team, he pushed for funding for a new facility.
The media can find out where the money came from if you pay me. The nonprofit that misappropriated welfare money was run by Nancy New. New has been convicted of fraud.
Even though he was told to stop, he continued to press for money. Texts show that Phil Bryant might be in violation of the law.
On September 30 at Mom and Dad's Country Cooking in Petal, Miss., Bud Holmes will meet with the sports network. He didn't show up due to a scheduling mix up. On the day before, he told Front Office Sports that he no longer represented the man.
Eric Herschmann, his new lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment. He said that he did not know that welfare funds were being used or that other people were involved in illegal conduct.
After the audit was published, White said that he was asked for a face-to-face meeting by the quarterback. White said absolutely not. It's not possible to have a private meeting where you can try to get this over with.
White said that one of his investigators met with the FBI to look over the audit.
State and federal investigators are still looking into the case and "pursue any individuals who have had any criminal conduct," according to the district attorney.
White has a phone in his office. The man is bracing for the worst. The man on the other end is not saying anything about the quarterback. He wants to talk about the lack of water in Jackson due to old infrastructure.
The man is talking about his water bill.
Are you aware of this here? The man says it. It used to be similar to the Sunset Strip.
The Big Apple Inn is located in Jackson, a city that is more than 80% Black, and King is gesturing up and down Farish Street. The Black Mecca of Mississippi used to be located above the restaurant where Medgar Evers had an office in the 1950's.
Farish Street has shrunk over time. King remembers it humming in the 70s when he was a child. There are empty buildings on the street.
Smith was not aware of the allegations. He asked if he was the football player. He wasn't surprised that government money didn't go to the people who needed it the most. He'd seen it before.
Welfare assistance is delivered by the Mississippi government. The state spent less on direct cash assistance to poor families in 2020 than it did in the previous year.
There are many people in David L. Jordan's district. One of the state's poorer regions is where he lives and they come up to him on the street. They want to know what the government is going to do to make sure the money is spent correctly.
Jordan says the poor people are rock bottom. They are not loaves. Many of them are poor people.
Vangela Wade is the president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit law firm focused on social justice. They are trying to make it through the day to have enough money for gas and food.
Wade says that it becomes something of the norm. They're expecting the same thing they've seen for a long time.
GREEK NIGHT is at Southern Miss. A Memphis rapper booms while a Miami artist thumps. The athletes are in a state of limbo. The women's volleyball team takes on Troy in front of a crowd of about 100 people.
Everyone is asked to observe a moment of silence for those who are struggling with mental health when the anthem is sung. He welcomed the center.
According to the state audit, New's nonprofit agreed to a sublease with the university's Athletic Foundation for a multi-purpose wellness center on the University's campus. He was on the board of the Athletic Foundation.
"If we lease this volleyball court using TANF funds, the way we'll justify it is the court will be used as the sort ofwellness center for the community," White said.
The TANF funds were used in an improper way.
A lot of money was going to lease a volleyball court that was not built. The lease was very expensive. Money is used to build the facility. TANF can't be used to pay for a brick and mortar building.
Before the volleyball facility was built, White's office asked if New's nonprofit had used other university property to benefit the community according to the audit. They were told that it was in October of last year for a healthy teens rally.
Current students are paying attention to the investigation even if they don't know all the details.
A student from north Mississippi says it's a robbery. Mississippi is a poor state. He's named after the legendary quarterback, who is also affectionately known as "Bret. It could have been paid for by him. It should be five million.
"That's how the USA works right now," says Heather. Rich people take advantage of poor people.
Ryan Dangiole has a family in Kiln. He knows what a football game is all about. He was getting into football when the Vikings played the Saints in the playoffs.
Dangiole has many questions about the scandal. He wants to know if the school will be held responsible.
He thinks it's terrible if he took that money.
Dangiole was told that the building was supposed to be used for poor people.
He says that it doesn't seem like a good place to hold that.
There is a mural across the street from BrokeSpoke. Where did the legend come from? Four people are sitting inside the building. One man swings around when he's asked about a topic.
He asks, "That a--hole?" We just talked about him.
Four people leave the gas station and run to their cars. One man has only one foot in his RAM 1500 and he doesn't want to say much.
The man said he was his cousin. It's blood.
He looks unhappy.
If he did it, he needs to be locked up. He doesn't think he did. The man doesn't need the money. He has a lot of money in the world.
There is a mural on a sign that welcomes people to town, and a statue in the shadow of a field where players lift weights under framed jerseys and throw off their backs.
The man in the parking lot is not giving his name. He says he played quarterback at the high school for the mother of the quarterback. When asked about misappropriated funds, he becomes agitated.
He says that no money was taken out of anyone's pocket.
He walks up Kiln-Picayune Road, where cars lined up to watch the Packers play the Vikings in the 1997 playoffs.
I have to say about that.
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