A difficult-to-watch video is making the rounds on the internet. In front of a camera, Brett Favre, the same man who threw frozen ropes across frozen Lambeau Field in circumstances that would have killed most people, extends an invitation to Green Bay Packers supporters to attend a meeting in Mexico City. He is warm, enthusiastic, and obviously still involved in the game. However, the words no longer come as naturally as they used to. Stuttering is present. Slurring is present. As was to be expected, the comment sections were filled with sadness. “We are witnessing brain damage here, folks,” one fan wrote. “Man, this is hard,” remarked another. “God bless Brett.” It’s the kind of thing that stops you in the middle of scrolling.
Favre received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in January 2024, but he didn’t announce it until September of the same year, when he appeared in Washington to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee. Most people didn’t think the quarterback, who once played through a sprained ankle, a broken thumb, and what seemed like half the physical vocabulary of injury, would end up sitting in front of Congress to discuss a brain disorder. For the majority of his career, he was essentially unbreakable. As it happens, that perception might have contributed to the issue.
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative neurological disorder that impairs the brain’s production of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that regulates mood, movement, and several other processes that most people take for granted. People can identify symptoms like tremors, stiffness, and sluggishness. However, it goes beyond that. Parkinson’s affects almost every aspect of daily life, including anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and cognitive changes. There isn’t a treatment. What is available are therapies that control symptoms and, when used properly, can greatly improve quality of life.
Favre has been candid about what he thinks caused his illness. Shortly after going public, he said, “Hell, I wrote the book on head trauma,” to TMZ. Even by the harsh standards of professional football, he believes he suffered more than 1,000 concussions during his two-decade NFL career. A single concussion increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 57%, according to research from 2020. In ways that scientists are still trying to fully comprehend, repeated blows increase that risk. Favre participated in 297 straight games during the regular season. He took hits that are now prohibited by safety regulations. Even though the math is grim, it is not shocking.
The fact that Favre claims he is still in the early stages of the illness and is mostly taking medication to manage his stiffness and rigidity on one side of his body is noteworthy and somewhat encouraging. Since there is no family history of Parkinson’s on either side, his doctors think the head trauma connection is likely. Although he claims to be moving “a little faster” than he had anticipated, his public remarks don’t come across as hopeless. “I am fighting till the end,” he declared at the beginning of 2025. That sounds just like Brett Favre.
It’s difficult to ignore the implications of this diagnosis for more than just one man’s health. In some ways, Favre is the most well-known illustration of a question that has plagued the NFL for years: what is the actual long-term cost of the game? The way that current players are protected and how former players are remembered have already been altered by chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The league has been hesitant to have an open and honest discussion, but Parkinson’s adds another level of complexity.
Observing all of this gives the impression that the sport is still in the early stages of addressing brain health. The regulations have evolved. The helmets are now better. Favre’s generation, however, operated under a different set of presumptions: that being tough meant persevering through hardships, that concussions were a necessary part of the job, and that the blows you took on Sunday would stay on Sunday. They didn’t.
What’s left is a man who gave his all to the game he loved and tried his hardest to maintain a relationship with it by inviting fans to Mexico City, supporting the Packers community, and fighting whenever he could. That video’s stutter isn’t how Brett Favre’s story ends. It tells the tale of what the sport cost him. And it’s a tale that the NFL and all fans of the game will likely have to endure for some time.
FAQs
Q1: What illness was Brett Favre diagnosed with?
Brett Favre was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in January 2024.
Q2: What caused Brett Favre’s Parkinson’s disease?
Doctors linked it to over 1,000 concussions sustained during his NFL career.
Q3: Is Brett Favre’s Parkinson’s in an advanced stage?
He remains in the early stages, managing symptoms primarily with medication.
Q4: How does Parkinson’s disease affect the body?
It destroys dopamine-producing brain cells, causing tremors, stiffness, and movement problems.
Q5: Has Brett Favre given up on fighting his illness?
He has publicly stated he is fighting until the very end.