Former NFL MVP Brett Favre announces Parkinson’s diagnosis to Congress
While testifying before Congress about the misuse of social security funds, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre revealed that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
While testifying before a congressional committee investigating the misuse of federal welfare funds, Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre revealed Tuesday that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
A person who has suffered a brain injury such as concussions – something Favre said he experienced repeatedly during his 20-year Hall of Fame football career – has a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a recent study found.
Parkinson’s is the same disease that Michael J. Fox has been battling for decades.
Here’s what we know about Favre after his Parkinson’s disease.
Brett Favre Age. How old is Brett Favre?
Brett Favre is 54. He turns 55 on October 10. According to the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s disease usually begins around age 50 or later.
Brett Favre reveals Parkinson’s disease
Favre said on Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Favre did not say how long he has been suffering from the nerve disease.
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors, slowed movements, muscle stiffness, poor posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, difficulty speaking and writing, and nonmotor symptoms.
Risk factors include age, genetic predisposition, male gender and exposure to toxins.
Parkinson’s disease is covered in the NFL’s 2017 concussion comparison, along with ALS, Alzheimer’s and dementia.
How many concussions did Brett Favre have in his career?
A 2020 study also found a link between concussions and brain and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia. The Family Medicine and Community Health study found that a single concussion increased the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 57% and the risk of developing dementia by 72%.
“I can only hope and pray that when I’m 55 or 60 (years old), I don’t suffer from the same things as some of the other guys that have been portrayed in the movies,” Favre said in a video clip about concussions before appearing on “Megyn Kelly Today” in 2018.
Kelly then began the interview by asking Favre to tell her how many concussions he has had in his career. “So many that I know of, maybe three or four,” Favre said.
But the total amount is much higher, Favre added.
“We’re learning about concussions, and there’s a term that’s used a lot in football and other sports. I got a concussion,” Favre explained. “As Dr. (Bennet) Omalu, portrayed by Will Smith in the movie ‘Concussion,’ says, a concussion is when you have ringing in your ears and you see stars. That’s a concussion, and if that’s a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, probably thousands of them over the course of my career. That’s scary.”
Brett Favre’s years in the NFL
Favre played in the NFL for 20 years.
Throughout his career, he was known as an Ironman, starting 321 consecutive games in 18.5 seasons from 1992 to 2010 – an NFL record.
He began his career with the Atlanta Falcons before being traded to the Packers in his second year, a move that changed the course of the organization. He became the first player in NFL history to be named MVP three times in a row and made the Packers a perennial contender. Favre led Green Bay to the Super Bowl title after the 1996 season, its first in 35 years, and to another Super Bowl appearance in 1997.
After he came out of retirement in 2008, the Packers traded him to the New York Jets. He spent one season there before playing the final two years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings.
He finished the 2010 season with 508 touchdowns, the most in NFL history. That record has since been surpassed and he is fourth on the list behind Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.
Favre was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Brett Favre welfare scandal
Despite all his success on the field, his reputation has been tarnished by his alleged involvement in a welfare scandal in his home state of Mississippi, in which $77 million in federal funds intended for needy families were diverted to other purposes.
Favre was not criminally charged in the case and the former quarterback has denied any wrongdoing. However, he was a central figure in the investigation and is one of 43 people sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services to recover additional funds.
Favre made his health statement during testimony on Capitol Hill before the Committee on Taxation and Customs, which is investigating how states spend funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
More than $5 million in federal funds earmarked for TANF went toward a new volleyball facility at Favre’s alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi. Text messages show that Favre worked to raise funds for the facility and reached out to two people (Human Services Manager John Davis and Nonprofit Director Nancy New), both of whom were arrested for their involvement in diverting funds intended for needy families.
“I wanted to help my alma mater and my community,” Favre said Tuesday. “I had no way of knowing that there was anything wrong with the state funding of the project, especially since it was publicly approved by many state agencies and several attorneys, including the state attorney general.”
He continued: “Unfortunately, I have also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug that I thought would help others. I am sure you will understand, even though it is too late for me, as I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This is also a matter of the heart.”
Timeline: Brett Favre’s involvement in welfare fraud in Mississippi
Favre said he wants to put guardrails in place for TANF funds so that “what happened in Mississippi doesn’t happen again.”
“The challenges my family has faced because certain government officials in Mississippi failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse and now unjustifiably seek to blame me for it,” Favre claimed Tuesday. “These challenges have damaged my reputation. These challenges are anything but what I experienced in football.”
Brett Favre News: Watch the former Packers quarterback speak at congressional hearing
Brett Favre Story, Southern Miss
Favre grew up in Kiln, Mississippi and attended Hancock North Central High School, where he was coached by his father, Irvin.
He then played in college at Southern Mississippi. His number 4 is no longer used at the university.
Favre was selected by the Falcons in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft.
FAVRE HISTORY: Brett Favre’s wild ride, the original reporting
