Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in January after consulting with five doctors.
In an interview published by TMZ Sports on Wednesday, one day after he disclosed his condition at a congressional hearing on welfare reform, Favre said he sought medical attention after experiencing minor symptoms.
“[The doctors] all said the same thing, if it’s not in your family, and there’s none on either side of my family, then the first thing we looked at is head trauma,” Favre told TMZ. “Well, hell, I wrote the book on head trauma.”
TMZ reported that Favre spoke to the outlet in August about “various football topics” but had asked the outlet not to report his diagnosis at the time. TMZ received permission from Favre after he disclosed the diagnosis himself Tuesday while testifying at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on welfare reform.
Favre said in a 2018 interview that he believes he could have suffered more than 1,000 concussions during his 20-season NFL career. A 2020 study found that having a single concussion increased the risk of developing the degenerative nervous system disorder by 57% and that having multiple concussions further compounds the danger.
In the TMZ interview, Favre said he noticed issues with his right arm for about a year.
“I would be doing something, and my right arm, I’d notice it was just stuck right there,” Favre said while demonstrating how his arm would remain locked in place.
He also described having trouble putting his arm through the sleeves of shirts and jackets.
“I felt my arm, the strength was there, but I could not guide it,” he said. “And it was the most frustrating thing so those two really kind of, eventually, I was like, you know I’m just gonna get it checked.”
Favre said that he eventually needed to use his left hand to guide his right while using a screwdriver.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who played with Favre on the Green Bay Packers and succeeded him as quarterback there, said Wednesday that the news of the diagnosis was “tough.”
“I feel bad for him and [Favre’s wife] Deanna, but it’s unfortunately part of our game. That’s part of the risk of playing, and we all in the back of our mind know that that could be a reality at some point,” Rodgers said. “We just kind of hope medicine at some point can catch up and either make the symptoms easier or eradicate some of these issues that we have.”
The revelation about his health overshadowed Favre’s testimony about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds at the heart of the sprawling Mississippi case in which he has been embroiled since 2022. At least $77 million in TANF funds, earmarked for poor families, were diverted to the rich and powerful, according to a 2019 Mississippi state audit.
Favre is one of dozens of defendants in a lawsuit seeking to recoup the misappropriated funds. He has denied wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged. Text messages show he asked state officials for help securing funds for Prevacus, a company making a concussion drug, and for a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Favre, who was born, raised and still lives in Mississippi, threw 508 touchdown passes while playing for four NFL teams, including the Packers, with whom he won Super Bowl XXXI.
ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini contributed to this report.
