Mr. Favre, the former N.F.L. quarterback who fell from grace after Mississippi officials accused him of helping divert funds meant for low-income residents, announced the diagnosis before Congress.
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Brett Favre’s revelation was a startling admission from a high-profile football player whose more than two-decade career included a Super Bowl victory and induction into the Hall of Fame.
Brett Favre, the former N.F.L. quarterback accused of diverting millions of dollars in federal money away from welfare recipients, said on Tuesday that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Speaking before the House Ways and Means Committee in a hearing dedicated to welfare reform, Mr. Favre, 54, addressed the controversy that has dogged him since 2020, denying that he knowingly misused federal welfare money. Among the companies that benefited is a pharmaceutical company, Prevacus, that promoted its efforts to find a treatment for concussions.
“Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others,” he said. “And I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, this is also a cause dear to my heart.”
The revelation was a startling admission from a high-profile football player whose more than two-decade career included a Super Bowl victory and induction into the Hall of Fame. While more attention has been paid in recent years to concussions and brain injuries in professional football, especially those suffered by quarterbacks, it is notable for a living player to be diagnosed with a serious disease that could be linked to repeated head hits in football. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease that is most associated with pro football, can only be diagnosed after death.
In a 2023 study, researchers found that longer duration of play and higher levels of the sport of football were linked to increased chances of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Mr. Favre has estimated that he suffered more than 1,000 concussions during his career. He played football at the University of Southern Mississippi before spending 20 seasons in the National Football League. Most were as a quarterback with the Green Bay Packers, helping clinch a Super Bowl victory in 1997.
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