Brett Favre’s recent revelation that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease isn’t the first time he shared his fears of traumatic brain injuries with the public.
‘I look at it like I probably had thousands of concussions,’ Favre confessed to DailyMail.com in 2018. ‘If a concussion is ringing in the ear, seeing stars, a little dizziness, foggy, fuzzy feeling or whatever, I couldn’t begin to count how many of those I’ve had. Tons.’
Favre was speaking to exclusively to DailyMail.com at the time, in part, to promote Prevacus – a biotech firm he’d invested in to make a drug aimed at preventing and treating concussions.
It was that investment, Favre explained at Tuesday’s congressional hearing, that led him to become entangled in a widespread welfare fraud scheme in Mississippi. The retired NFL legend was never charged in the case and has repaid more than $1 million in ‘no-show’ speaking fees funded by state welfare programs, although he allegedly owes more than $700,000 in interest payments.
‘Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,’ Favre told the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. ‘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.’
Brett Favre appears before the House Committee on Ways and Means on Capitol Hill
Favre grimaces in pain as he sits on the bench after being sacked by LaVar Arrington in 2002
Concussions have been linked to an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, and Favre’s case follows the famous example of Muhammad Ali, who was diagnosed with the syndrome about 30 years after he began amateur boxing. Only unlike Ali, who quietly suffered a slow decline, Favre was up front about his fears when speaking with DailyMail.com in 2018.
The hardest part, Favre explained, were the times he suffered an immediate loss of memory.
‘Those were the most serious concussions, where for a period of time, I didn’t remember,’ he said. ‘Later it came back to me, but it took a while. No pain. Just, ‘what’s going on here?’
The worst of it came on his final hit in 2010, when he was taken down by the Chicago Bears defense while playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
After stumbling to his feet, the befuddled Favre asked a member of the training staff, ‘What are the Bears doing here?’
This would be Favre’s farewell. He failed to clear NFL-mandated post-concussion tests and was scratched from the final game of the regular season. A few weeks later, Favre officially filed retirement papers.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre is sacked by Denver Broncos defender Steve Atwater
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Farve is sacked by Miami Dolphins defenders in 2010
That post-concussion test may have prevented Favre from suffering any further damage, but the truth is, the NFL didn’t require such tests for much of his 20-year career. And like many who played youth, high school and college football in the 1980s, Favre was unconcerned with head injuries.
‘Really, I think of the concussions I had, you didn’t go to the trainer and say, ‘hey, I need ice for my head,’ Favre said. ‘A lot of guys, you went and drank beer and ate pizza. You didn’t think about it. You were like, I just have a headache for a couple of days, but nothing changed.
‘There was no protocol, you didn’t have to take a test. You went about your normal routine.’
Now, though, Favre has become familiar with the work of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist and neuropathologist, who has helped the world to understand chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in football players.
‘As Dr. Omalu has stated, that’s a concussion,’ Favre said of the doctor portrayed by Will Smith in the Hollywood film, Concussion. ‘I don’t care whether you want to classify it as severe or not as severe. It’s a concussion. It’s like a jab in boxing. You go, ”oh he’s fine. He can take the jabs.”
‘Well, it’s a repetitive boom, boom, boom. Ringing in the ears, fogginess, seeing stars, it’s all the result of head trauma.
‘A little head trauma is bad. A little head trauma over and over and over again is really bad. And I had tons of those.’
Favre used welfare funds to help pay for a volleyball gym at Southern Miss, his alma mater
Favre has continued to battle negative press associated with his connection to the $77 million welfare fraud scheme.
Specifically, Favre was accused of funneling $5 million in welfare funds into a new volleyball arena at his alma mater, Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was playing the sport at the time, and another $1.7 million in public aid towards the development of Prevacus’ concussion treatment.
The NFL icon also recently sued ex-NFL players and media commentators Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee over comments made about him and the funds.
The lawsuit against McAfee was dropped after he publicly apologized for telling viewers of his popular ESPN show that Favre was ‘stealing from the poor people of Mississippi’.
