Brett Favre has provided a new update about living with Parkinson’s disease.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer, who revealed his diagnosis in 2024, told TMZ Sports on Thursday that his condition has “advanced a bit more quickly” than he anticipated. Still, he remains optimistic about medical progress and the prospect of a future cure.
Favre, 56, said he’s concentrating on staying active and participating in clinical studies, and made clear he isn’t ready to give up. He emphasized that exercise and medical trials are the main things he can do right now to fight the disease.
He also shared that he has seen five different specialists, all of whom have affirmed that he’s pursuing the right treatment path. According to Favre, those doctors have told him that researchers are closer than ever to meaningful breakthroughs.
Favre expressed hope not only for himself but for the many others with Parkinson’s. He said he’s praying for a cure that would help him and “millions out there” who live with the disorder. Although it’s been three years since his diagnosis, he told the outlet that he considers himself to be in an early phase of the illness and is holding out for therapies that can halt its progression, if not reverse it.
Favre originally went public about the diagnosis in September 2024 while testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Parkinson’s disease, the Mayo Clinic explains, is a progressive nervous system disorder that impacts movement. Over time, symptoms can worsen and include tremors, muscle stiffness, slowing of movement and balance problems that increase the chance of falling.
Speaking on The Sage Steele Show in September 2025, Favre addressed common misconceptions about the illness. He noted that many people associate Parkinson’s primarily with shaking, but said that isn’t the main issue for him. While he experiences some tremor, his dominant symptoms are rigidity and stiffness, particularly on his right side, which he said affects his joints and mobility.
Favre also described problems with swallowing that have emerged. He recounted a doctor asking him about his swallowing and realizing it wasn’t as effortless as before. Those swallowing difficulties can sometimes make him feel like he’s choking, a worrying development since it’s not something that can be easily fixed.
On his 4th and Favre podcast last month, he explained that he had assumed Parkinson’s was a single, uniform disease, but has learned there are multiple forms. His diagnosis, he said, is idiopathic Parkinson’s, which is the most commonly seen type.
He went on to clarify that the condition can present in different dominant ways. One form primarily affects cognition and memory; another is characterized by tremors; and a third is marked by rigidity and stiffness. Favre said his experience is mainly the third type — the stiffness and rigidity are the symptoms he deals with most.
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