Brett Favre Pays the Price for His Toughness On the Football Field

On Tuesday, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre revealed that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. The admission came when the Pro Football Hall of Famer was testifying before Congress about the misuse of Temporary Assistance for Needy Family funds in Mississippi.

The sad news will likely affect Favre, now 54, for the rest of his life. Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease include tremors, pain, sleep disorders, imbalance, trouble walking, and mental health issues.

Favre played 20 seasons in the NFL including 16 with the Packers. He took a physical beating during those seasons, and yet his legendary toughness caused him to play through and despite the pain.

Favre started 297 consecutive regular season games and 321 overall games in his career. He played through broken bones, sprained ankles, bruises, concussions, and an assortment of other injuries that few people would have considered playing with.

For Packers fans, Favre’s arrival in 1992 coincided with the return of the team to prominence after a quarter century of struggles that started with Vince Lombardi’s retirement after the 1967 season.

GM Ron Wolf traded a first-round pick to get Favre, who spent one season with the Atlanta Falcons but did not complete a pass in four attempts as a rookie. Two of his passes were intercepted. Favre and his coach, Jerry Glanville did not get along well, and the quarterback was immature, so the Falcons were willing to trade him after one season.

When Don Majkowski was injured late in the Packers Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals in 1992, Favre led the team to a dramatic 24-23 comeback win in the closing seconds. The following week, he started against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Favre then started every game for the Packers through the 2007 NFC title game. He led them to a pair of Super Bowl appearances after the 1996 and 1997 seasons and won three straight league MVP awards from 1995-97.

In Super Bowl XXXI, Favre threw for two long touchdown passes and ran for a third score as the Pack beat the New England Patriots 35-21 to win their first championship since the Lombardi Era.

There were so many memorable moments with Favre. His gunslinger mentality helped him make seemingly impossible passes although they also sometimes resulted in interceptions and bad plays.

Favre went through a lot off the field and Packers fans followed him every step of the way. Whether it was checking into rehab for an addiction to prescription painkillers before the 1996 season or his decision to play after the sudden death of his father before a Monday night game in Oakland in 2003, Packers fans went through the triumphs and tragedies with their quarterback. The sheer joy and enthusiasm he had for the game was contagious for fans and teammates alike.

Favre left the Packers in 2008 under less-than-ideal circumstances. He finished his career with by playing one season with the Jets and two with the Vikings before hanging up his cleats after the 2010 season.

At the time he retired, Favre held the all-time NFL record for touchdown passes, passing yards, wins by a quarterback, and interceptions. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. He later mended fences with the Packers organization and the team retired his number four.

Six years ago, Favre was asked how many concussions he had suffered during his career. He said he knew of three or four, but he could have suffered more than 1,000.

“When you have ringing of the ears, seeing stars, that’s a concussion,” Favre said on ‘The Today Show.’ He added, “If that is a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands throughout my career, which is frightening.”

But now, Favre is paying the price for the physical punishment he took in 20 years in the NFL plus all the football he played as a youth, in high school, and in college.

Favre’s diagnosis is yet another reminder of the human cost of the game of football we all love so much. Regardless of the issues he’s had off the field, we wish him well with his health battles and hope he can get the best of care and manage the condition as much as possible.