3-time NFL MVP Brett Favre accomplished just about everything imaginable on the football field during his Hall of Fame career, but one of his most important achievements was winning a personal battle.
Favre detailed his addiction to painkillers during a recent podcast, an addiction he admitted led to thoughts of suicide.
“I was as low as I possibly could be,” the Hall of Fame quarterback said on an episode of his podcast, “Bolling with Favre,” which aired Tuesday. “I said it’s one of two things — I die, or I flush these pills down the toilet. I sat by the toilet for two hours. Eventually, I dumped the pills in the toilet, flushed them and I almost wanted to kill myself because of doing that.
“I could not believe that I’ve actually done that, and I was so mad at myself because now what was I gonna do?”
Favre explained that he became addicted to the painkillers in 1994 while dealing with injury troubles, and was soon taking an entire month’s worth of dosage in two days.
He would eventually suffer two seizures and spend over two months in rehab. He admitted he “fell right back into the cycle” before flushing the pills down the toilet.
Of course, Favre isn’t the only professional athlete to have struggled with painkillers. A recent study found just over 25% of retired players said they had used prescription opioids in the past month, many of whom not taking them as prescribed.
– – Quotes via Mark Fischer of The New York Post Link – –
