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Brett Favre's rise and fall is focus of Netflix upcoming sports documentary series
Christopher Kuhagen
Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre has a legacy that puts him among the greatest of all time on the football field.
Off the field, including in his post-playing days, his legacy is much more complicated and controversial.
Netflix, in partnership with sports media company Front Office Sports, will chronicle the rise and fall of the football legend in "The Fall of Favre."
The one-hour feature, as part of Netflix's "Untold" sports documentary series, will air on the streaming service May 20.
The feature will discuss the harassment allegations levied against Favre during his one season with the New York Jets by a team host as well as the welfare scandal that he has been embroiled in over the last several years.
Front Office Sports said the feature showcases "the womanizing, hard-partying QB whose secrets were fiercely protected in provincial Green Bay."
Favre spent 16 years with the Packers, where he won three MVPs and led the team to the Super Bowl after the 1996 season.
When Favre played for the Jets after his run in Green Bay, team host Jenn Sterger alleged he harassed her in 2008. The NFL found that Favre didn't violate its workplace conduct policy, though the quarterback admitted to sending Sterger voicemails.
Favre, who retired from the NFL after the 2010 season, has also been linked to a fraud scheme in his home state of Mississippi that dates several years. State funds totaling $77 million for needy families were allegedly used to pay for other projects, including those that Favre advocated for, like a volleyball facility at Southern Mississippi.
Favre hasn't been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing.
He has said in the past that his name has been "unjustly smeared in the media." In 2023, Favre sued sports TV personalities Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee for defamation, as well as Mississippi State Auditor Shad White.
Mississippi also sued Favre in a civil case that sought to recover misspent welfare money.
Favre, according to Netflix and Front Office Sports, declined to be interviewed for the feature.
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Former UW professor who resigned amid sex harassment probe fired by Goshen College
Kelly Meyerhofer
Richard Brunson, a former University of Wisconsin professor who sexually harassed students and went on to land two other jobs in education, was fired by his most recent employer a week after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on his disciplinary history.
The story highlighted the unusual steps the UW System took to bring Brunson's background to light and how, despite those efforts, both a Wisconsin school district and an out-of-state college hired him.
Contacted for comment on the termination, Brunson's lawyer, Michael Brown of DVG Law Partner, asked the Journal Sentinel to "please leave us alone."
Brown has previously argued UW's actions amounted to overreach. He asked the student newspaper of the Indiana college where Brunson most recently worked: "At what point do ongoing punishments of Dr. Brunson become excessive (and unending)? … How, if at all, can Dr. Brunson ever have an opportunity to move forward with his career and community life and have a chance to prove he has changed, and is changing, for the better?”
Here's what to know:
Where did Richard Brunson work?
Brunson was a music professor at the UW-Stevens Point Marshfield campus for just over a decade.
A UW System investigation found he sexually harassed several of his students in a pattern going back several years, records show. Six students told investigators they received sexually suggestive messages from Brunson, often about masturbation.
While the disciplinary process was playing out, Brunson applied for a job teaching choir to middle and high school students in the Medford School District, about 40 miles north of the Marshfield campus.
Brunson resigned before the UW Board of Regents could vote on firing him. So instead, five months after Brunson quit, the board revoked his unused sick leave. A day later, a UW System lawyer called Medford's superintendent to share what had happened.
Is what UW System did in this case rare?
Yes. Proactively volunteering information on a former employee's disciplinary history is "unusual," one education risk-management expert told the Journal Sentinel.
But it's something more schools should consider doing if their state laws allow them to do so, Brett Soklow of TNG said. It can help curb a common problem in education known as "pass-the-trash," where someone commits misconduct, quietly leaves and is hired elsewhere.
How did Medford School District respond?
Medford put Brunson on paid leave for the next seven months until he resigned at the end of the 2022-23 school year, according to a settlement agreement Brunson struck with the district. Medford agreed to provide a neutral letter of reference for Brunson.
Medford Superintendent Pat Sullivan declined to answer questions about the district's hiring process.
How did Brunson land job at Goshen College?
Brunson applied for a music professor position at Goshen College, a private Mennonite liberal arts school in Indiana, two hours east of Chicago. He also sued UW System to prevent releasing public records associated with his time at UW-Stevens Point.
The chair of Goshen's music department contacted UW-Stevens Point's human resources office about Brunson in June 2023, UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch said. The HR office responded, saying Brunson hadn't been employed there since June 2022 and an ongoing court case prevented the university from releasing public records.
A judge last August ordered the documents be turned over. Goshen had already hired Brunson by then.
What has Goshen College said about its hiring process?
Goshen College spokesperson Jodi Beyeler said the college had not submitted a formal records request to the UW System and did not know the reasons behind Brunson's resignations until the Journal Sentinel contacted the school in late January.
The UW investigation "was not revealed to us through references or background checks," Goshen College human resources director Marlene Penner later said in an email to students and staff.
The school put Brunson on leave a day after the Journal Sentinel story published Feb. 5. On Monday, Penner emailed the campus to say Brunson had been terminated.
"We take all reports of sexual harassment very seriously, including from previous employers, and have sought to act with both due diligence and speed," Penner wrote to the campus community. "We are committed to examining our systems to strengthen our prevention and responses in the future."
Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
"It can help curb a common problem in education known as 'pass-the-trash,' where someone commits misconduct, quietly leaves and is hired elsewhere."
That's how sex predators just keep going and going...
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Friday, December 10, 2021
Band teacher in Racine Co. charged with sexually assaulting children
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Photo by: Kenosha County Sheriff's Office |
RACINE COUNTY — A band teacher in Racine County was charged with sexually assaulting children and possessing child pornography.
Zachary P. Wendt is facing a number of charges including sexual assault of a child by a person who works or volunteers with children, and sexual intercourse with a child 16 years or older.
The Wheatland School District told parents Wednesday night that the allegations occurred off district property and did not include students.
While we typically do not use mug shots in our news coverage, we are making an exception in this case given the potential of more victims.
Court records show Wendt was charged with:
- Sexual Intercourse with Child 16 or Older, Actor 19 or Older Misd. A
- Sexual Assault of Child by Person Who Works or Volunteers with Children Felony H
- Sexual Intercourse with Child 16 or Older, Actor 19 or Older Misd. A
- Sexual Assault of Child by Person Who Works or Volunteers with Children Felony H
- Possession of Child Pornography Felony D
- Possession of Child Pornography Felony D
- Possession of Child Pornography Felony D
- Exposing Genitals/Pubic Area/Intimate Parts to a Child
Burlington Police said an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sparked the investigation into 38-year-old Wendt.
According to the criminal complaint, a 16-year-old girl, identified only by her initials, told police that she and Wendt worked together at the Musicology store. He also gives private music lessons at the Musicology Store in Burlington, according to the store's website.
The 16-year-old girl said in February of this year they began "sexting."
The teen told investigators said she and Wendt drank together and had sex at his Burlington home on two occasions.
The girl said Wendt told her not to tell anyone, because he would lose his children and that he would send some of his students to her for lessons.
The teen told police Wendt is also a band teacher at Wheatland.
His bond was set at $500,000 during his initial appearance in Racine County Court Thursday afternoon. He kept his head down for most of the brief appearance. He has a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Dec. 16.
District officials say Wendt has been suspended without pay.
In a letter to parents, the Wheatland School District did not name Wendt, but said an employee was arrested and suspended without pay pending an investigation.
The district administrator went on to say that the accusations did not involve district students. Due to the situation, the middle school band concert was postponed.
Read the school district’s letter below:
"Dear Parents and Guardians:
I am writing with some very troubling news. Late last evening, I was informed by the Burlington Police Department that a Wheatland J1 School District employee was arrested. He has been suspended without pay effective immediately, pending an investigation.
We have been informed that the arrest was made in relation to an alleged situation that occurred off district property and did not include any Wheatland J1 School District students. Due to the circumstances surrounding this investigation, the middle school 5-8 band concert scheduled for tomorrow, December 9, 2021 will be postponed.
Please know that there is no additional information we can share at this time as this is an active investigation. As a school district, our first and most important responsibility is to ensure the safety of our students. We will continue to do everything we can to make that happen. School officials and district counselors will be available to answer questions students may have during the next several days.
Martin McGinley
District Administrator"
Neighbors we talked to said they were surprised at the accusations.
Burlington police are asking potential victims related to this case to contact them.
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Wisconsin lawmakers pass bill that labels legislators' discipline records 'confidential'
MADISON - Wisconsin lawmakers on Wednesday sent Gov. Tony Evers legislation that could make it harder to get records about lawmakers who are disciplined or accused of harassment, government transparency experts warn.
The measure would formally create a human resources office for the state Legislature and says disciplinary records and complaints against lawmakers should be treated confidentially, bolstering a legislative practice of withholding complaints against lawmakers.
The proposal passed the Senate Wednesday and goes to Evers just as a Dane County Judge ruled that Assembly leaders violated the public records law by withholding a sexual harassment complaint against a Democratic lawmaker after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other news outlets sued seeking the records.
"This greatly magnifies the concern that I have over the proposed human resources office," Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said. "The Legislature is trying to change the law after getting caught breaking it."
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