Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre said Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
His comments revealing the diagnosis came while testifying to Congress about possible misuse of taxpayer dollars.
According to NBC News, Mississippi paid $70 million of welfare funds to Favre, a professional wrestler, a horse farm and for the construction of a volleyball complex.
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Favre received money for speaking engagements he never made. The volleyball complex is located at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was a player.
Dozens of text messages showed how Favre, former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and nonprofit leader Nancy New coordinated on procuring welfare funds to finance the $8-million volleyball stadium, according to the Mississippi Free Press.
“I had no way of knowing there was anything wrong with how the state funded the project,” Favre told the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday.
Favre also said he repaid the money he received from the state. According to NBC, he was not criminally charged.
“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 told lawmakers.
Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes movement problems and gets worse over time. Symptoms can include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, poor balance and speech changes.
Favre played 20 seasons in the NFL. Sixteen of those were in Green Bay, where he won three league MVPs and Super Bowl 31. It was Green Bay’s first championship since the 1960s.
He holds the NFL record for the most consecutive starts, never missing a game between September 1992 and December 2010.
The Green Bay Packers have retired his jersey number, 4, and inducted him into the team’s hall of fame. He has also been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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