Brett Favre has opened up about living with Parkinson’s disease, saying he often wakes up feeling as stiff as “a board.”
The legendary NFL quarterback, 55, was diagnosed with the condition in January. However, he didn’t reveal his health woes to the public until September during a hearing on Capitol Hill.
Despite receiving the diagnosis so early on, Favre is choosing to remain positive and says he “can’t complain” about his life.
“My doctor said, ‘You may be the earliest patient I’ve ever seen to come in,’” Favre told TMZ Sports.
Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. There is no cure for it.
Luckily, Favre said medication has made all of his symptoms manageable. However, he admits that he still experiences extreme stiffness in the mornings.
“With my Parkinson’s, the main side effect is rigidity and stiffness. I have a little bit of shaking, but not much. But, rigidity and stiffness,” he told the outlet.
“When I wake up in the morning, I feel like a board. I don’t need any help because of football to be any stiffer. But, all things considered, I’m a very blessed man.”
Favre, who played 20 NFL seasons, revealed his diagnosis during a testimony at a congressional hearing on welfare misspending and reform in September.
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,” he said before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing, which focused on the need for “guardrails” when it comes to dispersing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.
“I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, this is also a cause dear to my heart.”
Favre, who spent most of his 20-year NFL career with the Packers and had stints with the Falcons, Jets and Vikings, won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 1997, and earned three consecutive MVP awards from 1995-97.
He played in a record 299 consecutive games in his 302-game NFL career, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Favre finished his glittering football career with totals of 6,300 completions, 10,169 attempts, 71,838 yards and 508 touchdowns.