NFL Great Brett Favre Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis

Football player Brett Favre went public about his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis during a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday morning.

The NFL Hall of Famer made the revelation while on Capitol Hill to testify about his alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud a Mississippi welfare fund.

“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,” he revealed during the hearing.

“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,” Favre added.

Favre was a top investor in the concussion drug’s manufacturer, Prevacus, which received $2 million of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, funds.

Numerous studies have found a strong link between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease.

While Favre has said he can only confirm suffering “three or four” concussions during his football career, he admitted he could have had more than a thousand while playing.

During a 2018 appearance on the “Today” show, he said, “When you have ringing of the ears, seeing stars, that’s a concussion.”

“And if that is a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, probably thousands, throughout my career, which is frightening,” Favre added.

Favre has been a vocal opponent of children under 14 playing tackle football.

“Having kids play before high school is just not worth the risk,” Favre said in a 2021 statement to the Concussion Legacy Foundation. “CTE is a terrible disease, and we need to do everything we can to prevent it for the next generation of football players.”

CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem, but a 2023 study from the Boston University CTE Center found cases in 345 of the 376 former NFL players it studied.