Football legend Brett Favre is known for brushing off injuries and other bumps and bruises, but during a recent interview, Favre gave an eerie estimate as to the number of concussions he’s probably suffered from during his long NFL career.
Brett Favre via Graham Bensinger YouTube
“Concussions happen all the time,” Favre started out saying during his recent appearance on “The Bubba Army.” “You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see flashes of light or ringing in your ears but you’re able to play— that’s a concussion. So, based on that, [I’ve suffered] thousands.”
Let that sink in for a moment— “thousands” of concussions compounding on the brain over time, that’s got to hurt.
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“Had to be, because every time my head hit the turf, there was ringing or stars going, flash bulbs… but I was still able to play,” Favre said.
Now, Favre has not been diagnosed with a specific traumatic brain injury or CTE in the past, but he isn’t making light of the impacts of concussions on the brain either. What has been cause for concern for some time however is that he claims there are whole portions of his life that he simply can’t remember.
According to a USA Today article from 2013, Favre had stated that “I don’t remember my daughter playing soccer, playing youth soccer, one summer.
Brett Favre conducting workouts with a local high school football team via Dillon Barrett YouTube
“I don’t remember that. I got a pretty good memory, and I have a tendency like we all do to say, ‘Where are my glasses?’ and they’re on your head. This was pretty shocking to me that I couldn’t remember by daughter playing youth soccer, just one summer. I think. I remember her playing basketball, I remember her playing volleyball, so I kind of think maybe she only played a game or two… So that’s a bit scary to me. For the first time in 44 years, that put a little fear in me.”
Favre has been an advocate for changes to football that would reduce head injuries, particularly for grade school and high school level athletes. One of those proposed changes is that parents with children under the age of 14 opt to register their kids for flag football instead of tackle football until they’re older.
President Donald J. Trump poses for a photo with football legend Brett Favre at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Bedminster, N.J. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour) Photo Credit: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Do you agree with Favre that the seriousness of concussions from Football are not treated as seriously?