Testifying before the House Budget Committee on Tuesday, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre said in a prepared statement that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Favre, 54, testified about welfare abuse in Mississippi and allegations that he and others used state funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for personal and business purposes. Favre, who earned about $140 million during his 20-year NFL career that ended in 2010, said in his testimony that he did not know he was receiving welfare and was misled by public officials.
A Mississippi state audit found that $5 million in TANF funds were used to build a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi — Favre’s alma mater — and that $1.7 million was paid to Prevacus, a company that develops concussion drugs. Favre’s daughter was a volleyball player at Southern Mississippi at the time, and Favre is an investor in Prevacus, whose founder, Jacob VanLandingham, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in July.
Favre, who has not faced criminal charges, repaid $1.1 million in TANF funds for speeches he never gave. The Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a civil suit against him and other defendants, citing text messages between Favre and officials as evidence of his involvement in embezzling funds.
Read more: Granderson: The allegations against Brett Favre are not just another NFL scandal
Favre, a Green Bay Packers legend, has played in more than 300 NFL games and has long been an advocate for research into concussions and resulting brain trauma. When asked on the “Today” show in 2018 how many concussions he had suffered, Favre said he had been diagnosed with “three or four,” but he believes the actual number is far higher.
“If you have a ringing in your ears and see stars, that’s a concussion,” Favre said on the show. “And if that’s a concussion, then I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands, over the course of my career, and that’s scary.”
A 2020 study published in the journal Family Medicine and Community Health found that “regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and place of residence, experiencing a single concussion in one’s lifetime increases the likelihood of later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by 57%.”
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug that I thought would help others. And I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me, as I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” Favre told the congressional committee on Tuesday.
Read more: A welfare scandal that squanders millions on the rich is now exacerbating the contradictions in the country’s poorest state
Court documents in the embezzlement trial portrayed Favre as a willing participant in the plot that allegedly embezzled millions of dollars intended for the poorest people in the poorest state in the United States.
Court documents and text messages detailed his involvement in embezzling TANF funds. Favre and then-Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant discussed via text message the use of $5 million to build the Southern Mississippi volleyball arena.
Favre also exchanged text messages with Nancy New, the executive director of the education center responsible for distributing millions in state funds.
“If you paid me the money, would the media have any way of finding out where the money came from and how much it was?” Favre reportedly asked her.
New, who later pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud, bribery and organized crime for her role in stealing the TANF funds, responded, “We never made that information public.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
