NFL legend Brett Favre announced he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease during a congressional hearing this week.
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Yahoo! Sports reports that Favre appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 24, to discuss “guardrails” regarding the dispersing of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. The meeting comes just four years after Favre was named in an alleged multimillion-dollar welfare fraud scheme in Mississippi
According to a 2020 audit, the former NFL player was paid $1.1 million in Mississippi welfare funds. He received the funds for appearances he ended up not making. Along with money going to directly Favre, millions of welfare funds went to a volleyball stadium at Favre’s alma mater University of South Mississippi as well as a defunct drug company that was backed by the NFL icon.
Brett Favre went public about his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis during the hearing.
“Sadly, I also lost my investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,” he explained. “As I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me—I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s—this is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use.”
Favre was not arrested for accepting the welfare funds. However, he is one of the 47 “well-connected people” who funneled $77 million from the fund’s intended recipients. He initially repaid $500,000 of his initial payment to Mississippi in May 2020 and then $600,000 in October 2021.
Brett Favre Admitted to Having ‘Thousands’ Of Concussions During His Football Career
During a 2022 appearance on “The Bubba Army” radio show, Brett Favre claimed he suffered “thousands” of concussions during his football career.
“The thing about concussions is we still don’t know a lot about them,” he said at the time. “If you had asked me this 10 years ago, how many concussions I had, I would have said three.”
He said it was difficult for him to determind if he had a concussion or not. “The reason I would have said three, I thought concussions were where you get knocked out,” he said. “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.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Parkinson’s disease is a condition where the brain deteriorates. Among the symptoms of the neurological illness are slowed movements, tremors, and balance problems. The condition is currently not cureable.
Is There a Link Between Football and an Increased Risk of Parkinson’s Disease?
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine recently revealed that studies have shown there is a link between playing football and an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
“CTE Center researchers used a large online data set of people who have or are more likely to be concerned, or at risk, for Parkinson’s disease,” the institution stated. “They found that the odds of participants with a history of playing organized tackle football increased by 61 percent for having ‘a reported parkinsonism or PD diagnosis.'”