NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He shared the news while testifying before Congress on Tuesday, September 24.
The admission came as Brett, 54, spoke to the House Ways and Means Committee about welfare accountability in his home state of Mississippi, including his own controversy about misusing taxpayer funds.
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Brett explained.
“This is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use,” he continued, referring to the Temporary Assistance of Needy Families (TANF) funds for the now defunct drug company Prevacus. Brett was accused of falsely allocating money to the company in which he was an investor.
The former Green Bay Packers star also was accused of receiving millions of dollars from an assistance fund for needy families to help build a new volleyball stadium at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter, Breleigh Favre, played on the volleyball team.
Brett has consistently denied the allegations against him, claiming he was not aware the funds were intended for welfare recipients.
Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disorder which causes “unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” according to the National Institute on Aging. It gets worse over time and there is no cure.
Brett played for 20 seasons in the NFL – including 16 with the Packers – before retiring in 2010. He won a Super Bowl with the team in 1997.
During a 2018 appearance on NBC’s Today, the Mississippi native said he suffered “three or four” concussions in his NFL career.
Three years later, Brett told TODAY.com he was suffering from memory issues.
“(There’s) no telling how many concussions I’ve had, and what are the repercussions of that, there’s no answer,” he said. “I wasn’t the best student, but I still can remember certain things that you would go, ‘Why would you even remember that?’ But I can’t remember someone that I played six years with in Green Bay … but the face looks familiar. Those type of issues that make me wonder.”
After taking so many hits to the head throughout his prolific NFL career, Brett also pondered if he had developed CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The progressive brain disorder caused by repeated head injuries can only be detected after one’s death during a brain tissue analysis.
“I don’t know what normal feels like. Do I have CTE? I really don’t know,” he said. “Concussions are a very, very serious thing and we’re just scraping the surface of how severe they are.”
Brett’s football career ended one year before the NFL began a concussion protocol program. If a player is suspected of suffering a concussion on the field, they are taken out of the game and examined for any symptoms, which can include loss of consciousness, motor instability, amnesia, confusion or impact seizures.
Players suspected of having a concussion undergo medical exams and follow-up tests. They are only allowed to return to active roster duty after being cleared by a team doctor and an independent neurological consultant.
