Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre disclosed in congressional testimony on Sept. 24 that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which has no cure.
Favre, who was testifying on an unrelated matter, told members of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee that he invested in a company that he thought was developing a breakthrough drug for concussions. He lost the investment due to authorities finding public money, some of which was sent to the doctor running the company, was misspent.
“As I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me—I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s—this is also a cause dear to my heart,” Favre said, referring to concussion treatment.
Parkinson’s is a disease for which researchers have not pinpointed a cause, although research has indicated that certain factors such as age may play a role.
The nervous system disorder starts off with symptoms such as stiff muscles and tremors and worsens over time.
Some medicines help slow the progression of the disease.
Favre, 54, is a Hall of Fame quarterback who helped the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl XXXI.
The retired football player has been linked to the misspending of welfare money from a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Favre repaid the money he received from a nonprofit that originally came from the program, according to authorities in Mississippi. He has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.
“The challenges my family and I have faced over the last three years, because certain government officials in Mississippi failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse, and are unjustifiably trying to blame me; those challenges have hurt my good name and are worse than anything I faced in football,” Favre told lawmakers in his opening statement.
Mississippi Auditor Shad White, for instance, has said that Favre received money he knew was meant to go to poor people. Favre and White are embroiled in a defamation lawsuit over statements they’ve made.
Favre told the committee that when he learned that the nonprofit from which he received payments for speeches allegedly improperly used TANF funds, he returned the money to the state with no questions asked, even though he provided services and knew he had done nothing wrong.
Favre recommended lawmakers impose more oversight of TANF, alleging that states “have too much flexibility in how they spend this money, which leads to waste and abuse.”
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chairman of the panel, said that the TANF program “has been undermined by rampant waste, fraud, and abuse—meaning fewer dollars are going to services for those who really need them.”
The issues include states not being required to spend funds on certain activities such as those supporting low-income people getting or keeping jobs, Smith said.
Smith thanked Favre for appearing, saying the former quarterback “saw how embezzlement and mismanagement hurt the people whom welfare is supposed to help.”
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the committee, said that Democrats are ready to implement reforms to the program.
