Because of concussions?: NFL star Brett Favre suffers from Parkinson’s disease

Because of concussions?
NFL star Brett Favre suffers from Parkinson’s disease

25.09.2024, 03:47

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“It’s too late for me”: NFL hero Brett Favre was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. As a witness in a court case, he talks about it. And reveals why he is committed to a drug against concussions.

As part of a testimony in a scandal involving the embezzlement of welfare funds in Mississippi, former American football star Brett Favre made his Parkinson’s disease public. This is reported by various US media. The former quarterback had to testify at a hearing because 77 million US dollars from the public assistance program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families were allegedly misused, which was actually intended for needy families in Favre’s home state of Mississippi. The NFL player is not under investigation, but the 54-year-old testified that he had lost his investment in a biotech company that he believed was developing a “groundbreaking treatment for concussions.”

Then Brett Favre revealed his own medical records: “Even though it’s too late for me – I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s – this is a matter very close to my heart,” revealed the former professional athlete. In 2011, the American finally ended his NFL career, after announcing his football retirement in 2008 and 2009, only to withdraw his retirement shortly afterwards.

Is the risky sport of football to blame?

It is not known whether Favre’s neurodegenerative disease could be related to his football career. In 2022, the 1997 Super Bowl winner said he had suffered an estimated “thousands” of concussions in his two decades in the National Football League. “If you have ringing in your ears and you see stars, that’s a concussion,” the athlete told the “Today Show” in 2018. “And if that’s a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands, over the course of my career, which is scary.”

Brett Favre is married to Deanne Tynes and has two adult daughters, Breleigh and Brittany. The latter gave him a grandchild while he was still a quarterback, making him the only grandfather in the NFL at the time.