Pat McAfee makes light of Brett Favre's defamation lawsuit against him

Pat McAfee, the former NFL punter turned sports talk-show host, seems to be taking in stride news that former Packers quarterback Brett Favre has filed a defamation lawsuit against him.

On Friday during "The Pat McAfee Show" live from Arizona during Super Bowl week on "radio row," McAfee treated the lawsuit as a celebratory milestone.

"Hey, we made it boys," McAfee said, then raising a drink along with his team of co-hosts.

"I guess whenever you get a little bit too big, you fly a little bit too close to the sun," McAfee said. "I'm getting sued alongside Shannon Sharpe and an auditor from Mississippi by Brett F---in' Favre."

Favre, who has not been charged with a crime, has been at the forefront of the $77 million welfare scandal in his home state of Mississippi. That state is suing Favre, alleging that he knew money would be withdrawn from a fund for needy families when he went to Mississippi officials looking for funding for a University of Southern Mississippi volleyball facility, which was funded by $5 million in misappropriated funds. Favre is also connected to a biomedical startup that also received funds inappropriately.

Favre's defamation lawsuit also takes aim at "Undisputed" host Shannon Sharpe, the brother of Favre's former Packers teammate, Sterling Sharpe. Also mentioned is Mississippi state auditor Shad White, who has spoken multiple times on the topic of Favre's culpability.

McAfee explained that lawyers wrote him asking him to remove references to Brett Favre from his YouTube and Twitter libraries, a request he termed "hilarious," adding, "Of course we're not doing that." After that, another letter requested a public apology in addition to the erasure of past references.

"I'm one of the worst apologizers in history," McAfee said, joking that he was about to honor the apology but he got distracted by a game of pickleball and the deadline slipped his mind. He also insisted that he regularly used the word "allegedly" when discussing Favre's behaviors.

He said he's been asked how his own lawyers expect to handle the situation but, "I aint got 'em (lawyers), so let's ride this f---er, I'm excited to see how it goes. I'll see you in court, pal. Cheers to a feel-good Friday not being ruined at all by that."

The specific things that have landed McAfee in Favre's crosshairs are these comments:

"Every time his name gets brought up, we have to mention that he tied the hands of the poor people and took money right out of their pockets," and "(Favre is) certainly in the middle of stealing from the poor people in Mississippi right now."

McAfee's show, of course, has been the preferred sounding board for current Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who appears weekly and frequently makes news after sharing details from his life.

"We introduced to the world darkness retreats for four days," McAfee noted, referring to Rodgers' most recent appearance, when he explained he would mull his future with the franchise during a four-day retreat in total darkness.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Talk host Pat McAfee make light of Brett Favre lawsuit against him