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Brett Favre’s Journey to Recovery

Brett Favre, a 20-year veteran of the NFL, played for four different teams throughout his illustrious career. He made history as the first quarterback in the league to achieve milestones such as passing for 500 touchdowns, throwing for 70,000 yards, completing 6,000 passes, and attempting 10,000 passes.
A Super Bowl champion, Favre retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and quarterback wins. However, before reaching these remarkable accomplishments, he faced one of his greatest challenges: Addiction.
In the late 1990s, the former Packers quarterback battled an addiction to prescription pills, particularly Vicodin. Although he ultimately sought treatment and achieved sobriety, his priorities during that period were misaligned.
In a CBS interview, he reflected on his experience, saying, “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.
Brett Favre Super Bowl 50
Arnie Papp, Brett Favre Super Bowl 50, CC BY 2.0
Favre was born on October 10, 1969, in Gulfport, Mississippi. He played both baseball and football during high school, taking on several positions on the football team, including quarterback, lineman, strong safety, placekicker, and punter.
High school did not provide Favre with many opportunities to showcase his arm. His team utilized a run-heavy offense, resulting in him rarely throwing more than five passes per game. However, an assistant coach from Southern Mississippi, Mark McHale, attended a couple of games and was ready to leave after witnessing mainly handoffs.
Suddenly, during a broken play, Favre launched a pass that McHale later described as having “smoke and flames coming off of it.” Impressed, McHale advocated for Southern Mississippi to offer Favre a scholarship.
The scholarship from Southern Miss was the only one Favre received.
He began his freshman year as the seventh-string quarterback but took over the starting role in the second half of the third game.
Despite being hungover and vomiting during warmups, Favre led the team to a comeback victory. He started ten games that freshman year, winning six, and continued to play for three more years with the team.
Favre was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round as the 33rd overall pick in the 1991 NFL Draft. However, he attempted only four passes during his time in Atlanta. In 1992, he was traded to the Green Bay Packers for a first-round pick.
Favre went on to play 16 seasons with the Packers and appeared in two Super Bowls.
During his tenure with the Green Bay Packers, Favre battled an addiction to prescription pain pills following a series of injuries. In an interview, he mentioned that while he went through treatment in 1996, his prescription pill use had been ongoing for three years. During this time, he escalated to consuming a month’s worth of 30 Vicodin pills in just two days.
I don’t remember the dynamics of how it worked, but say two gave me an effect I liked. After a month, two didn’t do anything, so you needed three. And it may have been less [time] than that. And then four and then so on and so forth. I don’t remember how long it took until you had to graduate to more, but I knew 15 was hard to come by.
In addition to depleting his prescription, Favre frequently asked teammates for pills.
A month’s prescription is 30 pills or whatever, depending on what they prescribe to you, and I was going through that in two days. So I was having to hustle. I’d ask this guy for pills and that guy for pills. After a while, I was going back around pretty quickly…My wife says everyone knew. But I thought no one knew.
Ironically, Favre won an MVP award during one of the years he was using pills.
That was an MVP year for me. But that year, when I woke up in the morning, my first thought was, ‘I gotta get more pills.’
Alongside prescription medication, Favre admitted to being a regular drinker.
When I drank, I drank to excess.
Eventually, his dependence on pills became overwhelming. Favre decided to quit cold turkey. One day, after hitting rock bottom, he flushed the last four pills he had. He described the following month as the worst period of recovery in his life and career.
I shook every night, cold sweats; it was a constant battle.
His addiction issues became public when he suffered a seizure during a hospital visit. In 1996, Favre entered a treatment center and remained in rehabilitation.
Following his recovery, Favre led the Packers to their best season in 30 years, culminating in a Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. Green Bay reached the Super Bowl again the following year against the Denver Broncos but lost in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
Favre was a three-time NFL MVP and led the league in passing yards for two years and in touchdowns for four years.
He had an illustrious career in the NFL and still holds numerous records, including the most consecutive starts by any player in the league, with 297 games, or 321 when including playoffs.
Favre - a three-time NFL MVP
Later in his career, he was traded to the New York Jets, where he played for one season. In 2009, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. On January 17, 2011, Favre officially submitted his retirement papers to the NFL.
In a 2018 interview with USA Today, Favre disclosed that he entered rehab three times before successfully overcoming his addictions. This is quite common for individuals with chemical dependencies; often, one stint in rehab isn’t sufficient, leading many to relapse and require readmission.
Even after achieving sobriety from prescription pills in 1996, Favre returned to rehab in 1998 to address an alcohol problem.
This time, it was strictly for drinking. I didn’t go back to the pills. I admitted the problem, I was in there 28 days, and it worked.
Brett Favre is well-known for his resiliency. His capacity to recover from injuries and continue playing made him one of the most dominant quarterbacks in the league for over a decade. This resilience also extended to his life off the field.
While some of his NFL records may eventually be surpassed, Favre’s sobriety is a lasting achievement he will carry with him forever.
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To learn more about Sunrise Recovery’s personalized drug addiction treatment plans for you or your loved one, you can reach out to our admissions team today.

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