Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre reveals he has Parkinson’s disease

(Gray News/AP) – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre told Congress Tuesday he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Favre made the admission during his opening statements at the House Ways and Means Committee hearing in Washington.

The committee is examining how states are falling short on using welfare to help families in need.

Clips of the admission were posted by several media outlets on the social media platform X.

The retired quarterback has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a welfare program in Mississippi.

Favre will take questions “per the usual witness policy,” committee spokesperson J.P. Freire said.

It’s unclear how much Favre might say because a Mississippi judge in 2023 put a gag order on him and others being sued by the state.

Mississippi has ranked among the poorest states in the U.S. for decades, but only a fraction of its federal welfare money has been going to families. Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to waste tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to Mississippi Auditor Shad White and state and federal prosecutors.

Favre is not facing any criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit the state filed in 2022. The suit demands repayment of money that was misspent through TANF.

White, a Republican, said in 2020 that Favre had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare money with approval from the state Department of Human Services. White said Favre did not show up for the speeches. Although Favre repaid the $1.1 million, he still owes nearly $730,000 in interest, White said.

The TANF money was to go toward a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.

A nonprofit group called the Mississippi Community Education Center made two payments of welfare money to Favre Enterprises, the athlete’s business: $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018.

Court records show that on Dec. 27, 2017, Favre texted the center’s director, Nancy New: “Nancy Santa came today and dropped some money off (two smiling emojis) thank you my goodness thank you.”

“Yes he did,” New responded. “He felt you had been pretty good this year!”

New pleaded guilty in April 2022 to charges of misspending welfare money, as did her son Zachary New, who helped run the nonprofit. They await sentencing and have agreed to testify against others.

Favre said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.

Punchbowl News was first to report about Favre’s appearance before the Ways and Means Committee.

Copyright 2024 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.