Brett Favre was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in January

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre said he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in January after consulting five doctors.

In an interview published by TMZ Sports on Wednesday, a day after disclosing his condition at a congressional hearing on welfare reform, Favre said he sought medical attention after experiencing mild symptoms.

“[The doctors] everyone said the same thing: If it doesn't run in the family, and there's no one in my family with a father or a minor, the first thing we looked at was head trauma,” Favre told TMZ. “But damn, I wrote the book on head trauma.”

TMZ reported that Favre spoke to the paper in August about “various football topics,” but asked the paper at the time not to publish his diagnosis. TMZ received permission from Favre after he revealed the diagnosis himself on Tuesday while testifying at a House Budget Committee hearing on welfare reform.

Favre said in a 2018 interview that he believed he had suffered more than 1,000 concussions during his 20-year NFL career. A 2020 study found that a single concussion increases the risk of developing the degenerative nervous system disease by 57% and that multiple concussions increase the risk even further.

In the TMZ interview, Favre said he has been having problems with his right arm for about a year.

“I was doing something and then I realized my right arm was just stuck there,” Favre said, demonstrating how his arm was held in place.

He also described having difficulty putting his arm through the sleeves of shirts and jackets.

“I felt my arm, the strength was there, but I couldn't move it,” he said. “And that was the most frustrating thing, so at some point I thought I'd just get it checked out.”

Favre said that when using a screwdriver, he eventually had to use his left hand to guide his right.

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who played with Favre on the Green Bay Packers and succeeded him as quarterback, said Wednesday that the news of the diagnosis was “tough.”

“I feel sorry for him and [Favre’s wife] Deanna, but unfortunately that's part of our game. That's part of the risk of playing, and we all know in the back of our minds that that could become a reality at some point,” Rodgers said. “We're just hoping that at some point medicine can catch up and either alleviate the symptoms or eliminate some of these issues that we're having.”

The revelations about his health overshadowed Favre's testimony about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds at the center of the sprawling Mississippi case in which he has been embroiled since 2022. At least $77 million in TANF funds intended for poor families were diverted to the rich and powerful, according to a 2019 Mississippi state audit.

Favre is one of dozens of defendants in a lawsuit seeking to recoup the embezzled funds. He has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged. Text messages show he asked state authorities for help in raising money for Prevacus, a company that makes a concussion drug, and for a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Favre, who was born, raised and still lives in Mississippi, threw 508 touchdown passes while playing for four NFL teams, including the Packers, with whom he won Super Bowl XXXI.

ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini contributed to this report.