While appearing before Congress on Sept. 24, retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre made a stunning admission about his health.
While testifying about his alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars, Favre revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, NBC News reports.
During his testimony, Favre said, “Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,” he began.
“And I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Favre said while standing in front of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“This is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor, running the company pleaded guilty to taking (public) money for his own use.”
Favre has used his platforms to discuss the impact of concussions in football, particularly at the professional level.
He was featured in an Apple TV documentary titled “Concussed: The American Dream.”
In a 2022 interview with with Bubba the Love Sponge, Favre said he is unsure about how many concussions he’s sustained during his football career.
“The thing about concussions is we still don’t know a lot about them,” Favre said. “If you had asked me this 10 years ago, how many concussions I had, I would’ve said three.”
“The reason I would have said three, I thought concussions were where you get knocked out, where you black out for a period of time you don’t know where you are, memory loss, dizzy. A boxer gets knocked and tries to get up, his legs are rubber, that’s a concussion.”
But with more knowledge, Favre would say he likely sustained thousands of concussions.
“What we now know is concussions happen all the time,” Favre said. “You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see the flashes of light or ringing in your ears, but you’re able to play.”
“Based on that, thousands, had to be, because every time my head hit the turf, there was ringing or stars going, flash bulbs, but I was still able to play.”
Favre eventually retired from the NFL in 2010 after being drafted in 1991. And he’s been dealing with the repercussions of those concussions ever since.
Favre has now been advocating to keep kids away from tackle football until they are at least 14, CBS Sports reports.
He adds that those who want to play football before the age of 14, should start with flag football.
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