Brett Favre Opens up About Drug Addiction While Playing in NFL

Brett Favre was one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL but was dealing with a lot [...]

By Brian Jones

Brett Favre was one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL but was dealing with a lot during the prime of his career. The Green Bay Packers legend opened up about his addiction to opioids and alcohol with Dr. Phil on the latest edition of the Bolling with Favre podcast. Favre said during the Packers Super Bowl-winning season in 1996, he was taking up to eight pain pills per day and has much as 16 Vicodin per day at the height of his addiction.

Favre's co-host Eric Bolling asked him how did he stop using drug and alcohol? "So, 1994, was when it started," Favre responded per Brobible. "Now I had taken pain pills before that. Not necessarily football injuries. But when I first realized that I liked the pain pills was after that Philadelphia game in '94. And it wasn't… the next time I got injured, for example, it may have been three weeks later and I sprained my ankle. I don't know if it was sprained enough to warrant getting pain pills, but I remembered the effect that it had. And I liked it. And I thought, 'What the heck? Why not?'"

Favre went on to say he increased his intake, consuming as much as a month's worth of a prescription in two days. However, the use of pain killers led to him having seizures, which then led to him getting help from the NFL. Favre said it took him 75 days instead of 28 to be released from treatment because the NFL told him, "If you don't stay, you don't play." Favre stayed but the addiction continued.

Favre said after the 1996 season, "I had eight pills in my possession. Eight pills would not do what I wanted it to do. It would give me zero buzz. And I was home in Mississippi and I was as low as I possibly could be. Even though I'd won the Super Bowl, won an MVP, actually, won three MVPs in a row. During this whole time I hadn't slept a bit. Like, maybe an hour a night. But I was low. I felt… and I said, it's one of two things: I die or I flush these pills down the toilet."

Favre continued: "And I contemplated. I sat by the toilet for two hours. And eventually I dumped the pills into the toilet. Flushed them. And I almost wanted to kill myself because of doing that. I could not believe that I had actually done that. And I was so mad at myself because now what was I going to do?" At that point, Favre began his road to recovery. He also revealed that he hasn't consumed any alcohol since 1998."

If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.

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