Pat McAfee thought the first papers he got from Brett Favre’s attorneys were a joke days before the former Hall of Fame quarterback filed a defamation lawsuit against McAfee in February.
Three months after Favre followed through with the lawsuit, McAfee and Favre both announced a settlement on Thursday that required McAfee to refine his remarks about Favre’s links to the Mississippi welfare scandal.
“I have no personal knowledge about any case involving Brett in Mississippi,” McAfee said in a video posted to Twitter. “I am pleased to report solely, based solely on me clarifying these points now, with no settlement paid, Brett is withdrawing his suit against me.”
A spokesperson for Favre told Front Office Sports that there was a settlement agreement, although the representative provided no further details.
As of Thursday afternoon, the case was still active in a Mississippi federal court where the case has resided since March.
“I’m happy that Pat McAfee and I have settled this litigation,” Favre wrote on Twitter. “Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We’d both much rather talk about football.”
A lawyer for McAfee declined to comment.
In February, Favre sued McAfee, Shannon Sharpe, and Mississippi State Auditor Shad White in Mississippi state court. McAfee and Sharpe successfully removed their case to federal court.
In an interview days after the lawsuits were filed, Eric Herschmann, Favre’s lead attorney, said in an interview days after the lawsuits were filed that McAfee’s case could leave him broke.
“I guarantee you the jury in Mississippi will make certain he learns how to apologize,” Herschmann said per NBC Sports. “It’s going to cost Pat McAfee millions of dollars. And if it bankrupts him, he will have learned his lesson that you don’t try to promote yourself inappropriately and improperly by attacking somebody else. He’s going to learn the lesson the hard way.
