Brett Favre Believes He Suffered Frightening Number Of Concussions
Brett Favre, the legendary NFL quarterback, announced some tough health news on Tuesday.
The Hall of Fame quarterback, who played for the Packers, Vikings and Jets, announced during a Congressional hearing that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. The degenerative nervous system disorder causes brain decay and impacts body movements. Favre, 54, was speaking before Congress about welfare reform. The Mississippi native was involved in a welfare fraud incident in his home state, as $8 million of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds were dispersed to Favre himself, a stadium at his alma mater and a drug company he invested in. It was during his speech to congress on the drug company that he revealed his diagnosis.
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,” Favre said at the hearing. “I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, this is also a cause dear to my heart.”
Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre throws downfield as he runs out of the backfield away from Seahawks Bryce Fisher during the first half of the NFL game on Monday Night Football November 27, 2006 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Casey/NFLPhotoLibrary)
While it's tough to know how Favre developed the disease, his time in the National Football League could have been a factor. The 20-year NFL veteran believes he suffered a shocking number of concussions during his playing career.
Favre thinks he suffered more than 1,000 concussions during his playing career that spanned from 1991-2010.
"The thing about concussions is we still don't know a lot about them," Favre said during a 2022 interview with Bubba the Love Sponge. "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."
Favre didn't necessarily think that during his playing career, but based on what he knows now about concussions, he thinks he suffered dozens per season.
"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."
If Favre's estimation is correct, he was suffering about 50 concussions per season - about three per game.
"That's what's kind of frightening about the concussion thing," Favre said. "It's the ones that seem minor that do the damage, because you're able to play and keep going, and still today, there's probably guys that have them, and they're like 'I'm not going out.'"
The NFL has put new guardrails in place for concussion protocol in recent seasons, and some players are starting to wear the "guardian caps" during games. The caps are used at practice and are meant to be better at protecting from brain injuries.
