Brett Favre says addiction to painkillers nearly killed him

Green Bay Packers legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Brett Favre has spoken openly about his addiction to painkillers and struggles with alcohol over the years.

Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Favre admitted during an episode of his podcast that he first began abusing painkillers during the 1994 NFL season and "had a seizure the night before a game" the following year. 

Even a 75-day stint in an inpatient rehabilitation facility didn't prevent Favre from once again using painkillers during his career, and he explained that he went to a dark place at least once during the worst days of his addiction. 

"I had eight pills in my possession," Favre said. "Eight pills would not do what I needed it to do. It would give me zero buzz. I was home in Mississippi and I was as low as I possibly could be even though I had won the Super Bowl and won three MVPs in a row. I was low. I said it’s one of two things, I die, or I flush these pills down the toilet. I sat by the toilet for two hours, and eventually, I dumped the pills in the toilet, flushed them and I almost wanted to kill myself because of doing that. I could not believe that I’d actually done that, and I was so mad at myself because now what was I gonna do? It was really not the way you want to come off pain pills because it could kill you. I shook with cold sweats and hot sweats every night at 9 o’clock because every night at 9 o’clock was when I took them. But that was the last time. I was clean. It took me a couple months to where I started getting over, I want these pain pills real bad, that urge." 

As noted by Sporting News and other outlets, Favre recently endorsed the use of cannabidiol — or CBD — among NFL players for dealing with injuries and pain. He says he's been clean of drugs and alcohol for over 20 years. 

"The NFL and sports, in general, should look into it for general stuff," Favre said of CBD last summer. "If you tear an ACL, go to a doctor and get it fixed. For aches and pains, tendinitis, things like that? Absolutely, it works. It's good. It benefits all."