A day after retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease while testifying before Congress, another star athlete — former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer — revealed another devastating health diagnosis.
Kramer said this week, in a post to social media, that it was Favre's announcement that prompted him to go public about his diagnosis with dementia, which came during a checkup at the NFL Cleveland Clinic.
The former NFL player said doctors gave him anywhere from two to 10 years to live, but added going sober for nearly a year has helped. Kramer said his dementia hasn't advanced since his diagnosis, according to a recent check-up.
"Please, no sympathy, I’ve lived a great life and wouldn’t change a thing. Nobody wanted to win more than me and I never gave up, and that’s exactly how I’m going to battle this," he said. "Football is the life we chose to live and sometimes stuff like this can happen. I'm grateful to the NFL for the opportunity and am glad they are trying to do things to protect today’s players."
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In his public statement, Kramer called out the NFL for only covering medical bills that players' personal insurance won't cover and said he knows of players who need more financial assistance than he does.
Kramer said he hopes to raise more awareness about players' health struggles and health care costs.
On Tuesday Favre told Congress, "Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why 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 Pro Football Hall of Famer was asked to speak at the hearing in Washington after a scandal in Mississippi where he and dozens of other defendants were accused in a civil lawsuit of misusing funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
Favre has denied wrongdoing, sued the state auditor who investigated the misspending for defamation and said he paid back misspent welfare funds.
