Green Bay Packers Legend Brett Favre Opens Up About Pain Killer Usage

Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks that has ever played in the NFL. He has a very good chance to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2016.

The Green Bay Packers wouldn’t be the same franchise without the gunslinger that led them to many successful seasons. Favre completely transformed the way the quarterback position is played. He made the Packers one of the top offenses in the NFL for many years, and led them to a Super Bowl victory in 1996 over the New England Patriots.

One of the things that Favre has opened up about following his retirement is the pain killers that he took during his career. It is a common story to hear and many NFL players have been open about the amounts that they took and how unhealthy it was looking back on their decisions.

“I tell people all the time that I took 15 Vicodin ES at one time. And they’re like, ‘It didn’t knock you out?’ It did totally the opposite — I was up. And that’s kind of the way with addictions, too. What it’s supposed to do, it doesn’t. So when you take two pain pills, you’re knocked out and you don’t feel pain and you wake up, what, four, five, six hours later. I would be up just talking, I didn’t want to sleep. Until about 10 o’clock the next morning when we were in offensive meetings was about the only time I wanted to sleep. Not a good time to sleep! And I would doze off, leaning back into a coat rack in our quarterback’s meeting room.This went on for a long time. It wasn’t just ’96. That’s when people knew about it because of the announcement. I don’t know, it started three years before? I was taking pain pills before that but maybe not abusing them.”

Obviously, he has a lot to say on the topic and he is doing the right thing by coming out and talking about it. There are serious dangers in taking that many pain pills. Favre was one of the most dependable quarterbacks to play through pain throughout his career, but it took massive amounts of drugs to get him out there.

Throughout the 20 seasons that Favre played in the NFL according to ESPN statistics, he put up amazing all-around numbers. He completed 62.0 percent of his pass attempts for 71,838 yards, 508 touchdowns, and 336 interceptions. While he did put up amazing passing numbers, the interceptions were always frustrating.

Now that his career is over, Favre has also complained of concussion complications. He has said that his memory is off at times, according to a report from Matt Lauer of The Today Show.

Young players have been retiring at a much faster pace than any time before. They are playing through their first couple contracts and then moving on from the game. Calvin Johnson is a prime example of a player who had plenty of football left to play, but ended up leaving early.

Favre will never be forgotten by the NFL. He will forever be remembered as one of the hardest throwing quarterbacks to ever play the game. Unfortunately, that does not take away the risks and health problems that he may have from playing professional football.

Expect to hear more players come out talking about the problems that they faced while playing in the NFL in the future. Things are becoming clearer with each passing year from a health perspective. Favre isn’t the only player that has overused pain killers and he won’t be the last.

Do you think that retiring young will become an even bigger trend in the future? What are your thoughts about the statements that Favre made about painkillers in football? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!

[AP Photo/Duane Burleson]