Netflix is back at it again with another foray into its sports documentary series, and the latest one focuses on Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.
Untold: The Fall of Favre premiered Tuesday on the streaming service and serves its purpose. It is full of information, filled with good storytelling from the talking heads who appeared in the film, mostly from sportswriters, who covered him for his 20 NFL seasons.
The very definition of the word “untold” is inappropriate here, as those casual sports fans who don’t live and die by every game, or have a rooting interest in an athlete, certainly have heard about portions of Favre’s career on and off the field.
In other words, there isn’t much of anything new or earthshattering here, and because it was no shock that Favre is a non-participant in the documentary, you won’t see anything that resembles contrition for Favre’s well-documented misdeeds, either.
One of the more interesting parts of the latest “Untold” from Netflix is that the documentary is only one hour long, which is surprising given the complexity of the subject featured.
In efforts to tell a balanced story, Favre’s career is the focus of the first 12 minutes of the film, and then Jenn Sterger makes an appearance to tell her story about Favre sending her unsolicited pictures of his private parts when they were both employed by the New York Jets.
“Brett Favre ultimately destroyed my life,” said Sterger, who was a Jets in-stadium game-day host. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
To this day, according to Sterger, she has yet to meet Favre, who the NFL fined $50,000 for not cooperating with their investigation.
So, who exactly is Brett Favre? If you are watching this film looking for an answer to that question, you won’t find it here.
Favre apologists will undoubtedly look at the film as a glorified hit piece, and indeed, the last portion of the film, there isn’t much good if you’re looking for great things to be said about him. Sterger is extensively featured in the documentary, and her story could really stand to use its own episode to tie in the rest of Favre’s story.
And of course, it touches on the scandal concerning welfare funds in Mississippi, where Favre sought to build a new arena at Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was a member of the volleyball team.
The film also shows executive producer A.J. Perez listening to audio recordings after being threatened by Favre’s representatives for reporting on the Mississippi welfare scandal, which might be the most interesting part of the entire film. (Perez was previously employed as a reporter for USA TODAY.)
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Favre ended up using the courts to try to clear his name, suing media personalities Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee for defamation, as well as the State Auditor of Mississippi and two journalists, including Anna Wolfe, a reporter with Mississippi Today, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting.
Sharpe said Favre would have to be a sorry person “to steal from the lowest of the low,” and McAfee opined that the three-time NFL MVP was “stealing from poor people in Mississippi.” A federal appeals court tossed out the lawsuit against Sharpe last September, and Favre dropped his suit against McAfee in 2023.
The documentary goes through its paces and does its job to hold a viewer’s attention, but if you are looking for mind-changing, thought-provoking content, this isn’t it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brett Favre Netflix documentary shows a star drowning in scandal
