(AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against fellow retired NFL player Shannon Sharpe, ruling that Sharpe used constitutionally protected speech on a sports broadcast when he criticized Favre's connection to a welfare misspending case in Mississippi. Discussion of Mississippi welfare spending on “Undisputed” took place after extensive news coverage about allegations of Mississippi's largest public corruption case. Favre is not facing criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or businesses the state is suing to try to recover misspent welfare money. In addition to suing Sharpe, Favre filed defamation lawsuits earlier this year against White, the auditor, and sportscaster Pat McAfee, who is a former NFL punter. Favre has repaid $1.1 million he received for speaking fees from a nonprofit group that spent TANF money with approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

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Persons: JACKSON, Brett Favre’s, Shannon Sharpe, Sharpe, Favre's, Keith Starrett, Favre, “, ” Favre, Skip, Shannon, ”, Shad White, Starrett, ’, ” Starrett, Michael Shemper, Pat McAfee, McAfee, White, Favre’s Organizations: —, District, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Fox Sports, Mississippi Department of Human Services, Prosecutors, University of Southern, Twitter, Associated Press, White, NFL, McAfee, Favre, of Human Services Locations: Miss, Mississippi . U.S, Mississippi, U.S, University of Southern Mississippi, alma