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Summary:
- Football Hall of Famer broke the news of his new Parkinson’s disease diagnosis on Tuesday.
- Favre spoke in front of the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing focused on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reform.
- The quarterback also shared he lost his investment in a company meant to develop a “breakthrough concussion drug”.
Former professional football quarterback who spent 20 seasons playing in the National Football League, Brett Favre, shared his recent Parkinson’s diagnosis while speaking in front of the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing on Tuesday.
The football Hall of Famer was scheduled to testify before Congress and share his views on welfare misspending about the necessity to reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
“It’s Too Late for Me”
During his speech, the former quarterback with 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, which marked the largest number in the league’s history, made a difficult announcement regarding his health.
“I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s”, he said, adding that the cause that was dear to his heart had also convinced him to invest in a company that he “believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug” that would help others.
Favre said that he lost the investment in the company, adding “it’s too late for me”, in light of the new diagnosis.
In August, he told The Megyn Kelly Show that, back in the day, head injuries and concussions were not treated the way they are handled now by medical professionals, further talking about the potential impact of this on his life.
During his interview, he also shared that he would fear about “what tomorrow will bring” at least a few times a week.
He also explained he did not experience the same thoughts while he was still playing,
First of all, because at that point concussions were not looked at, it was just a minor bump, get your butt back in the game, go play.
I don’t blame anybody because then no one thought concussions were a major issue, including me.
The 54-year-old who is probably best known for playing for the Green Bay Packers when he also won the Super Bowl (1996-97) along with two back-to-back-to-back MVPs (1995-1997) also acknowledged that he likely hasn’t done himself any favors.
“Boy, I probably haven’t done myself many favors.”, he said during the interview.
Would I do it the same way over again if I had the chance or would I change the way I played or how long I played? I don’t know, maybe I would have been more cautious
While Favre said he can still do a lot of the things that he has always enjoyed doing, he also noticed a few changes including memory loss and occasional speech impairment.
In the past, the Hall of Famer said he could have been subject to “thousands” of concussions across his long NFL career.
According to pros, Parkinson’s and football concussions might be related.
Playing Football Could Increase Parkinson’s Risk
According to research from the Boston University CTE Center, it is suggested that playing football could boost the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Based on data from a large online survey sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, scientists learned participants with a history of playing organized tackle football were 61% more prone to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or parkinsonism.
The latter is an umbrella term for symptoms like rigidity and tremors responsible for causing movement problems, compared with study participants who played other types of organized sports.
Even more, the report said those who played college and professional football were almost three times more likely to have Parkinson’s or parkinsonism compared with study participants who played at high school or youth levels.
