Does Brett Favre Have Any Regrets About NFL Career, Based on What He Knows About Concussions Now?

you're doing this documentary about poor Tyler and just how much pain he was in it was an accidental drug overdose that took his life with pain medications but he was really suffering with headaches and bad symptoms um you look back Brett and just for those of you listening Brett played 16 seasons for Green Bay he led the team to 11 playoff appearances he remains the first and only player to win three consecutive MVP awards he helped the team appear in two Super Bowls was it worth it I guess uh at this point I would say yes um there I I'll be honest with you there's um there's there is a a certain amount of fear that not all the time but there's probably not a day that goes by and if there is you know a day or two that goes by it's not you you know at least several times a week I there's this fear of what tomorrow will bring and uh and that that wasn't the case when when I was playing first of all because at that point concussions were not looked at as you know was just a minor bum you know get your butt back in the game go play and I don't blame anybody because then no one thought concussions were a major issue including me now you see Tyler sash Junior seal Dave doron I and I could go on and on guys that love life like Junior seow was great player and if there was a person that I would have said that person will live forever and will love every day that he's he's living that would have been Junior seal and he boom he kills himself and you know so I see those I hear about those and I think I would never be that that way and I'm sure Junior sayal would have said the same thing Tyler sash would have said the same thing Dave Duron as an example would have said the same thing but yet it happened to them and you know ALS excuse me for example they don't know a lot about ALS lugar's disease but what one thing they do know is that head trauma the more head trauma you have concussions it UPS your chances of having a neurological disease uh and doesn't guarantee it but it certainly doesn't help so that being said I often you know I don't pinch myself but I think boy I had probably haven't done myself many favors um would I do it over do it the same way over again if I had the chance or would I change the way I played or how long I played I don't know I don't know maybe I would have been more cautious uh like the my last play in history from fifth grade to my last year retirement just happened to be a major concussion where I was out for a minute or two when I woke up on the field I was snoring and had no clue what the Chicago Bears were doing in my living room as I thought I was in and there's no good time to have a concussion there certainly you know a major concussion having it at 40 years old I remember walking off the field I said I'm done now did I do it a little too late I hope that I didn't and so that's that fear of what tomorrow will bring um again I'm very blessed I'm able to do a lot of the things I enjoy doing um I think there's some memory issues I think sometimes my speech is is affected is that a result of the concussions in football or just being over 50 and maybe the answer is a little bit of both but that if if I'm able to perceive like I am now now that would be okay but I certainly don't want to progress into something like Tyler sash or Junior seal Dave dur th those examples so there's there's that Fe your what's your message then Brett to moms and dads who have eight-year-olds who want to join peeeee tackle football who kids who are going through high school who want to play tackle football they don't know how but they they look forward to doing it what's your what's your advice first of all there should not be tackle football for peee even Junior High they should play flag football now I have caught hell from a lot of people for saying that in the past oh how dare you you know the this quote unquote toughest man in football is saying to play flag football well if there was anyone you should listen to I'm not saying I'm the expert but there's no reason for a 8 to 10 to 12 to 14 year old kid to play tackle football teach the fundamentals let them play flag football let their head mature just a little bit more keep in mind what Dr Malo said there's never a good time to play tackled football but if you can protect the youth just a little bit from head injuries isn't that a good thing and that's what I try to get across to parents I have three grandsons the oldest is a ninth grader the next is a sixth grader and then a third grader they the three combined have never once said they wanted to play football and I will never encourage them to play football I'm not knocking football but if they said they wanted to play I would support them but I can't go to the peeee league and say no tactic play flag unless everybody does it I just think that it's our responsibility to protect our youth and this is one good way of doing it uh but you got to do it one state can't do it and the other one do it we all need to do it uh and this fear of well they they they're going to lose their toughness they're G I think it's a bunch of baloney if you're tough you're tough and so be it but if you can't have an opportunity I mean you got some kids that go out and play tackle that are twice as big as the other kid they don't know anything about form or fundamentals and yes want you so we need to be the ones to protect them yeah that is so true even even our son they had to play it in school and uh he spent just a couple months on the team like oh my God because he was seventh and eighth grade combined and so you got kids you know eighth grade by by the time you finish 8th grade some of these kids are like almost 15 in some circumstance especially because people are starting their kids later now right they look like men versus the beginning of seventh grade when the kids were late bloomers they're scrawny and small and we were like what what's happening like it was it was scary so you're absolutely right about the you know that's a little young to be doing tackle football but what is where does this lead us Brett because as we kicked it off by saying and I don't have to tell you this Americans love football they love the NFL I mean it seems like to me if if I'm Queen for a Day and I can do whatever I want I should get rid of this I should stop I don't want to see these players get hurt we saw that um I can't pronounce his name it's taglio Viola um of the Dolphins and that call him Tu Tua he got hurt so badly and we were all watching like oh no it I mean does NFL football need to go away does it need to continue but be softer somehow it seems like they kind of tried that but it hasn't really well you and I know this and this this we know for a fact football is not going away NFL football is not going away did you know there's nearly 1 trillion bucks of infrastructure and pandemic funds yet to be spent yes that's right there is a massive amount of dough that this lame duck Administration is pushing hard to spend in its last few months if the president is able to push these funds out we could see another prolonged inflation surge just like during Co but there's hope a gold Ira from Birch gold group can be an inflation Hedge for your savings in uncertain times to see how to protect your IRA or 401K get your free info kit on Gold by texting the word MK to 9898 98 Birch gold makes it seamless to roll over your retirement account while preserving your tax advantage status don't wait for the president's spending spree to potentially tank the dollar further protect your financial future right now text MK to 98898 for your free info kit from Birch gold thanks so much for watching if you like what you just saw hit the Subscribe button for more clips and full episodes