Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre announced he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease during a House hearing on Tuesday that looked into the misuse of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.
In the hearing, Favre was called as a witness due to his involvement in the embezzlement of the TANF funds scandal in Mississippi in 2020.
Favre was a top investor in Prevacus, a breakthrough concussion treatment that received millions of dollars from the Mississippi government, a cause he said is “dear to my heart.”
“I thought [it] 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 said.
Favre, who returned all the TANF money he thought was granted to the Mississippi government, said the Mississippi state auditor is to blame for the misuse of TANF funds.
“I believe I got swept up in a civil lawsuit at the instigation of State Auditor Shad White, an ambitious public official who decided to terminate, tarnish my reputation to try and advance his own political career, even after he applauded me for returning the funds and said there was no evidence that I knew TANF funds were involved,” Favre said.
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Favre played college football for the University of Southern Mississippi before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1991 and later getting traded to the Green Bay Packers. Favre brought the Packers to two consecutive Super Bowl games, including a championship title at Super Bowl 31.
From the Packers, Favre went to the New York Jets for a year and then finished off his final two years in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings before retiring in 2010.