Brett Favre reveals Parkinson’s diagnosis during Congressional testimony

Brett Favre has told Congress that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The revelation came while he testified about the potential misuse of taxpayer money.

Favre was in front of the House Ways and Means Committee to explain whether he used political connections to get money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families federal program, also known as TANF.

Prevacus was making a concussion drug which Favre invested in and which received $2 million from TANF. A series of text messages showed that he had asked state officials for help getting the money in November 2018, ESPN reported.

“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 testified, according to NBC News. “This is also a cause dear to my heart. Recently, the doctor, running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use.”

The company’s founder Jacob VanLandingham pleaded guilty earlier this year and admitted to using Mississippi welfare money to pay his own gambling and other debts, ESPN reported.

Overall $77 million in TANF funds were given to powerful people a 2019 Mississippi state audit found.

Favre is not facing criminal charges, but is one of dozens of people who are the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by Mississippi in 2022 that is looking for the repayment of the money that was allegedly illegally used, The Associated Press reported.

Favre received $1.1 million from speaking fees from a nonprofit that used TANF money, but Favre did not show up at the events. He has paid the $1.1 million but still owes $730,000 in interest, the AP reported.

Some of the money was also allegedly used to pay for a new volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, with Favre leading the fundraising push. Favre’s daughter played volleyball at the school.

Nancy New, the director of The Mississippi Community Education Center made two payments of TANF money to Favre Enterprises, his business. The first payment of $500,000 was in December 2017 and the second was for $600,000 in June 2018.

New pleaded guilty to misspending welfare money. Her son Zachary New helped run the nonprofit and also pleaded guilty to the same charges. They have not been sentenced after agreeing to testify against other people, the AP reported.

Favre said he didn’t know that the money came from welfare funds and that his charity had donated millions of dollars to poor kids in both Mississippi and Wisconsin.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. The nervous system is a network of nerve cells that controls many parts of the body, including movement.”

The symptoms include tremors that may not be noticeable at the start. There is also stiffness, slow movement and trouble with balance, the clinic said. Speech can be soft or slurred and symptoms get worse as the disease progresses.

Parkinson’s cannot be cured but there are medications that can help ease symptoms.

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