The Green Bay Packers have many franchise icons, but Brett Favre has long held a special place in Titletown lore.
Once the NFL’s all-time leading touchdown passer, Favre brought a Super Bowl title to Green Bay in 1997, won three MVP awards, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
Since his playing days have ended, Favre has been in the spotlight for his involvement in an array of scandals in his home state of Mississippi. He was summoned to testify in front of Congress on Tuesday, and there, he revealed an unfortunate personal health diagnosis.
Speaking in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, Favre revealed he has Parkinson’s Disease, a degenerative disease that causes brain cell damage, leading to difficulties with movement, sleep, and/or muscle pain.
“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, per Xuan Thai and Anthony Olivieri of ESPN. “And I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me, because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This is also a cause dear to my heart.”
Favre’s public image has taken a hit in recent years after becoming entangled in a massive welfare scandal in the state of Mississippi, in which $77 million of funds allocated to help the state’s neediest residents was diverted away to other projects, including a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi, where Favre’s daughter formerly played.
Favre appeared in front of Congress specifically to testify about Prevacus, a company whose founder made off with over $2 million in state funds and committed wire fraud while reporting to develop a concussion drug, for which Favre was a top investor.
Concussions are an outsized influence on the story of retired NFL players, and Favre saying they helped cause his Parkinson’s diagnosis is the latest unfortunate example. As with the Mississippi welfare case, the controversy around brain health in football has no end in sight.
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