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Brett Favre Shares Unfortunate Update On Battle With Parkinson's

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Sep 5, 2025 12:48 PM ET

It's been a year since NFL icon Brett Favre was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Sadly, the battle has not been going all that well.

In a recent appearance on The Sage Steele Show, Favre shared some unfortunate updates on his condition and how it's progressing. He explained that contrary to what people have seen in some famous people with Parkinson's such as the late-great Muhammad Ali or retired actor Michael J. Fox, his condition is causing rigidity and stiffness rather than uncontrollable shaking.

Favre revealed that even before his condition started getting worse he had perpetual joint issues in his right side and the Parkinson's is making it worse. He said that it's becoming harder for him to swallow and sometimes reaches a point where he thinks he's choking.

“Everyone attributes Parkinson’s with shaking, and most people [tell me], ‘I don’t see much shaking.’ I have a little shaking, but not like Muhammad Ali or Michael J. Fox,” Favre said. “Mine is rigidity and stiffness. The problem with that is I have rigid and stiff joints on my right side – really on both sides, but the right side is bothering me. So the Parkinson’s is making it worse.

“I have a hard time swallowing. One of the doctors, out of the blue, said ‘How’s your swallowing?’ And I was like, ‘It’s not as easy as it was.’ He said that’s one of the things that’s affected. There are times where I think I’m choking. So it’s sort of scary because they can’t fix that."

Treatment

Favre revealed that he has to take medication every four hours in order to slow the progression of the disease and alleviate the worse symptoms. But he said that the medicine has helped a lot.

“I can only imagine what I look like, but I feel like a pretzel,” Favre said. “Everything is so rigid. I take the medicine and 20 minutes later, at least in my mind, it’s like a total new body.”

Favre couldn't help but draw a small comparison between himself and his own father, who passed away from a heart attack at the age of 56 back in 2003. Favre himself is now 55.

“So all in all, here I am at 55, and I know we were talking about my dad, and he died at 56. I’m almost there,” Favre said. “But I have taken way better care of myself, even though [playing] football is not taking real good care of yourself.”

It's an unfortunate situation and we can only hope that the condition doesn't reach the point where he can't do the things he loves anymore.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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