Brett Favre Once Said He May Have Suffered 'Thousands' of Concussions Over His 20-Year NFL Career

The NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, who revealed that he has Parkinson's disease on Tuesday, has spoken out about his past concussions on numerous occasions

Brett Favre, who shared Tuesday that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, once said he likely suffered “thousands” of concussions over the course of his 20-year NFL career.

The 54-year-old NFL Hall of Famer — who played for 20 seasons — disclosed in a stunning announcement during a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that he has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In an interview that aired on April 11, 2018 with Megyn Kelly on Today, the legendary retired quarterback looked back on his success in the league — and spoke out about the consequences of playing the game.

“When you have ringing of the ears, seeing stars, that’s a concussion,” Favre said. “And if that is a concussion, I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands, throughout my career, which is frightening.”

Related: Brett Favre, 54, Reveals He Has Parkinson’s Disease in Stunning Congressional Hearing Moment

Favre added at the time that he was “absolutely not” aware of the dangers of playing football, until the last few years of his career.

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“Year 18, 19, 20 is when the NFL implemented the concussion protocol testing,” Favre, who retired in 2010, said.

And while his baseline tests returned “skewed” results at the age 48, Favre said during the Today interview that he was experiencing short-term memory problems and was having issues with stumbling over his words during conversation.

“Having played 20 years, could it just be as we all like to say as we get a little bit older, ‘I forgot my keys and they were in my hand? Or where are my glasses, and they’re on your head?’ I wonder if that’s what it is, or do I have early stages of CTE? I don’t know,” he said.

Related: Brett Favre to Testify Before Congress Over Alleged Misuse of Welfare Funds: Report

Four years later in a separate interview, the iconic signal-caller echoed similar sentiments.

"What we now know is concussions happen all the time," he said. "You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see the flashes of light or ringing in your ears, but you're able to play."

He added about his own number of concussions, "So, based on that, thousands. That's what's kind of frightening about the concussion thing. It's the ones that seem minor that do the damage, because you're able to keep going, and still today, there's probably guys that have them, they're [saying] 'I'm not going out.' "

Favre’s news on Tuesday came as he was testifying in front of the House Ways and Means Committee about Prevacus, a company researching a cure for concussions, which he had raised money for in recent years. Favre reportedly convinced Mississippi state lawmakers to give him $2 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for the company, which a lawsuit against him claims he instead used for himself.

"Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s," Favre reportedly told lawmakers, according to NBC News, ESPN and Fox News. “This is also a cause dear to my heart.”

According to the Parkinson's Foundation, a study published in 2020 found that having a single concussion raised the lifetime risk of being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease by 57%.

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