Legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre has opened up on his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease over a year after revealing his diagnosis.
Favre, 56, announced he has the progressive brain disorder during a September 2024 congressional hearing, but has kept details of his progress largely under wraps ever since.
Now, on the latest episode of his ‘4th and Favre’ podcast, the 1996 Super Bowl winner and three-time MVP has shared a rare update on his Parkinson’s fight, admitting it does not entail what most people assume.
‘I’m probably like most people – I thought there was just one Parkinson’s and that was it. There’s not. There’s multiple, many forms of Parkinson’s,’ he said.’ ‘And I have what’s called idiopathic, which is the most common.
‘I think the other thing most people think when they hear of Parkinson’s is they think of shaking. I get from time to time, “Oh you must not be too bad because you don’t shake.” I have very little shaking. I have some, but it’s pretty rare.
‘But as I’ve learned, the Parkinson’s that I have has three different characteristics. One of those three you’ll have as the dominant side effect. It’s cognitive and memory is one. Shaking and tremors is two. And rigidity and stiffness is three. I major in the rigidity and stiffness.’
Legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre has opened up on his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s
The 56-year-old announced he is battling the progressive brain disorder in September 2024
The Green Bay Packers icon continued: ‘So, when I wake up in the morning before I take my medicine, I’m as close to a 2 by 4 as you could possibly get. And once I take my medicine, it’s like the muscles and the joints kind of ease their grip on me.
‘When I get fatigued, mainly toward the end of the day, I do shake a little bit. My cognitive memory – part of it, right now it’s OK.
‘As you well know, there’s no cure. I hear from time to time, “Well, they’re five years away from a cure.” I hope that that’s the case. But I’m not holding my breath.’
Favre was known for his durability during his football career after registering an NFL-record streak of 297 consecutive starts, a figure that goes up to 321 if playoff games are included.
He won three straight MVP awards with Green Bay from 1995-97. Favre led the 1996 Packers to their first Super Bowl title in nearly three decades and brought them back to the Super Bowl the following year.
Favre was with Green Bay from 1992-2007 and also played for the Atlanta Falcons (1991), New York Jets (2008) and Minnesota Vikings (2009-10).
Earlier this year, he explained during an appearance on The Sage Steele show that a new symptom he’s struggling with is difficulty swallowing and a fear that the disease is ‘progressing’.
Favre says Parkinson’s disease does not bring the type of symptoms that most people assume
Favre said: ‘There’s times where I think I’m choking. It’s sort of scary because they can’t fix that [but] I try not to think about it. I try to just focus on getting after the day.
‘But there are often times during the day, maybe at night, when I decompress and I think I’m progressing a little bit.
‘There’s no way to predict who is going to progress faster than others. We all age differently. I constantly think about – even though I know I shouldn’t – am I going to be the one that ages quicker?
‘Is the disease going to eventually dominate me? I think right now [that] I’m dominating the disease. I wake up every day and think, did I progress 2% or am I staying the same? Am I looking into this progression more than I should? All those thoughts go through my mind’.
