Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Green Bay Packers great Brett Favre has battled Parkinson’s disease over the last year and the struggle is progressing, he says. Favre said joint issues from his playing days have been made worse by the disease and now, he’s having trouble swallowing.
“Everyone attributes Parkinson’s with shaking, and most people [tell me], ‘I don’t see much shaking.’ I have a little shaking, but not like Muhammad Ali or Michael J. Fox,” Favre said on Sage Steele’s podcast this week. “Mine is rigidity and stiffness. The problem with that is I have rigid and stiff joints on my right side – really on both sides, but the right side is bothering me. So the Parkinson’s is making it worse.
“I have a hard time swallowing. One of the doctors, out of the blue, said, ‘How’s your swallowing?’ And I was like, ‘It’s not as easy as it was.’ He said that’s one of the things that’s affected. There are times where I think I’m choking. So it’s sort of scary because they can’t fix that.”
Favre revealed last year he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease while testifying to Congress. Favre, 55, previously appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee as part of an ongoing investigation into the potential misuse of taxpayer money when he disclosed his medical condition.
Favre told Steele he takes medicine every four hours to try and delay the progression of the disease.
“I can only imagine what I look like, but I feel like a pretzel,” Favre said. “Everything is so rigid. I take the medicine and 20 minutes later, at least in my mind, it’s like a total new body.”
Favre brought up the death of his father in 2003 at the age of 56 from a massive heart attack. On Dec. 22, 2003, Favre had one of the most memorable games of his career the day after his father’s passing after throwing for 311 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of Green Bay’s win over the Oakland Raiders.
The Packers retired Favre’s No. 4 jersey on Thanksgiving during the 2015 season.
“So all in all, here I am at 55, and I know we were talking about my dad, and he died at 56. I’m almost there,” Favre said. “But I have taken way better care of myself, even though [playing] football is not taking real good care of yourself.”
Favre, who is trying to clear his name from misappropriating millions of welfare dollars by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, has denied allegations that he squandered more than $20 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program. According to Mississippi Today, Favre and former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant used at least $5 million of the state’s welfare funds to build a new volleyball stadium at Southern Miss.
Favre played college football at Southern Miss, and his daughter was a volleyball player at USM during the time of the alleged money funneling.
This was shown first on: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/brett-favre-details-scary-battle-with-parkinsons-progression-of-disease-after-nfl-career/
