Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease while testifying before Congress on Tuesday about the vulnerability of welfare programs.
"Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, 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," he told members of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Front Office Sports was the first to report on Favre's diagnosis.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer was asked to speak at the hearing in Washington after a scandal in Mississippi where he and dozens of other defendants were accused in a civil lawsuit of misusing funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
Favre has denied wrongdoing, sued the state auditor who investigated the misspending for defamation and said he paid back misspent welfare funds.
RELATED STORY | Brett Favre will testify under oath in Mississippi welfare misuse case
Instead of going to needy families, about $5 million helped fund a volleyball arena that Favre supported at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, said Mississippi Auditor Shad White, whose office investigated the scandal. Favre's daughter played volleyball at the school. Another $1.7 million went to the development of a concussion treatment drug, a project Favre supported.
A gag order was issued by a Mississippi judge last year for Favre and the other defendants, so he was limited in what he could say during Tuesday’s hearing.
House Republicans have said a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal involving Favre and others points to the need for an overhaul in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Favre has said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and has noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and in Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.
Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that affects movements, often causing uncontrollable shaking and tremors, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It typically gets worse over time and is not curable.
What causes Parkinson's disease is unknown, and it is unclear if Favre's disease is connected to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he experienced “thousands” of concussions in his two decades in the NFL.
