Brett Favre once said, “Every game I’ve ever played meant the same to me. And I have laid it all on the line.” At the time, it sounded routine, but now, over a decade after his retirement, the meaning has taken a ‘literal’ twist. As the dangers of head trauma continue to unfold, the documentary ‘Concussed’ sheds light on the Packers legend Favre and the late Super Bowl champion Tyler Sash. Both men who gave everything on the field faced the lasting impact of concussions.

On August 15th, filmmaker David Kano hit the airwaves with the SNY New York Post, tackling a question from Brett Favre. It was as chilling as a December game in Green Bay: “If they told me I had CTE, do I really want to know?” This isn’t just about getting hit; it’s the heavy toll of head trauma, with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) often revealing itself only after death.

Kano didn’t shy away from the gritty details live on air. He recalled a moment when he and his team witnessed a doctor slicing open a brain, unveiling that CTE is visible only post-mortem. “You can see it [CTE] after you die,” Kano said, echoing the gravity of the situation. But like a demanding signal-caller, he sought answers by asking, “What about when we’re alive? Can we see how much [CTE] we have?” That’s when he recounted what Favre said. With no cure in sight and the condition only worsening with age, the question of the retired gridiron legend weighs heavily.

“You can’t make it better right now. It’s neurodegenerative, which means it only gets worse,” Kano stressed. In football, where concussions are as frequent as third-and-long situations, this issue often gets sidelined. But that’s where Kano enters. His dedication, sparked by his own college football experiences and a 98-page thesis on ‘Head Trauma in Sports,’ shows just how serious this problem is.

But even if this doesn’t convince you, allow us to hit the rewind button. Just a couple of years back, when Brett Favre revealed the scary number of concussions he endured during his long career. You might need to hold your nerves for this one!

Brett Favre on head injuries: “Ringing or stars going, flash bulbs”

Brett Favre’s resume reads like this: 20 seasons, 4 teams, 11 Pro Bowls, 3 MVPs, and a Super Bowl ring. We know that’s common knowledge if you are a Pigskin Fanatic. But here’s a head-spinning revelation. When asked about his concussion count, Favre dropped a bombshell. Forget the three concussions he once believed he had. His most recent estimate? 1,000—meaning 50 per year. That’s outrageous!

In an August 2022 chat with Bubba the Love Sponge, Favre said, “The thing about concussions is we still don’t know a lot about them.” He used to think three concussions were the max: “where you get knocked out, memory loss, dizzy.” But with time, he realized every helmet rattle and every turf impact counts. “You get tackled and your head hits the turf… There was ringing or stars going, flash bulbs.”

And that’s exactly why films like ‘Concussed’ are so crucial. Kudos to David Kano for bringing these eye-opening issues to the big screen. As Favre himself said, we ‘still don’t know a lot about’ concussions.

Looking back at Favre’s streak of 297 consecutive games, it’s still a legendary feat. But one, that it came at a hefty price. With no concussion protocols back in the day, players like ‘The Gunslinger’ soldiered on. All while taking hits and keeping their game faces on. “It’s the ones that seem minor that do the damage,” he warned. No wonder why he is an advocator for flag football until kids turn 14. His reasons? Pushing for safer play to safeguard the next generation of footballers. That’s the long-sightedness of a Hall of Famer!

Reading Brett Favre’s firsthand account, it’s clear that we must not ignore the dangers involved with head injuries. His journey through countless concussions sheds light on a pressing issue in football. So, that leaves us with one question: Does the league need to reconsider its handling of head injuries? Let us know what you think!