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Brett Favre is opening up about his addiction to painkillers and the struggles that he faced when he decided to quit.
During his podcast “Boiling With Favre” with special guest Dr. Phil, Favre admitted to getting addicted to painkillers in 1994 after suffering an injury and that the addition led to seizures and nearly cost him his life, via TMZ Sports.
Favre said his addiction got “to a point where I was basically taking in 2 days, a month’s prescription, which is crazy.”
Favre finally decided to admit his addiction in 1995 after suffering two seizures from increased pill intake. It wasn’t until after winning the 1997 Super Bowl and three consecutive MVP awards that Favre decided to get clean for good.
The former Packers star admitted that quitting his addiction almost made him want to kill himself.
“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,” Favre said. “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?”
Luckily for Favre and those around him, he was able to beat his addiction.
This is just one of many examples of NFL players getting addicted to opiates following injuries or surgery and it’s a problem that has been prominent in the league for years.
Perhaps it’s time to allow players to ease their pain with marijuana? Just a thought.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse or addiction, text the Crisis Text Hotline at 741-741.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a suicide prevention network of 161 crisis centers that provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress and can be reached at 1-800-273-8255.
