WAUKESHA — Brett Favre says he could have suffered thousands of concussions over his career. On Monday at Waukesha Sportscards, I asked the Pro Football Hall of Famer about his recent PSA urging parents not to have their kids play tackle football until age 14.
"The head itself is not mature, as you would expect," Favre says. "A young kid is not fully mature. And talking to Dr. Bennet Omalu who Will Smith portrayed in the movie Concussion, he said there's never a good time to play football. The human head is not designed to do what rams do. Or his term, musk ox. Woodpecker. That their brains are basically in a cocoon if you will, and don't slosh around. He said, well helmets may protect you against force. It doesn't stop the brain. Their head stops. The brain keeps moving."
Lance Allan: "I was there for the Regan Upshaw hit. I was there, when you went back in the game against the Giants. Stuff like that. Knowing what you know now, would you have maybe ended the streak earlier?"
"In hindsight, it's easy to say one way or the other," Favre says. "I think when you're young, it would be hard to take me out. But the older me would certainly say, you don't need to play."
Lance Allan: "I wanted to ask you about Aaron Rodgers, the 'Last Dance.' Is it any similar to '07? Do you feel like this is inevitable, that this is his last year?"
"You know, who knows," Favre says. "I think, I think it's up to him. I foresee them either in the Super Bowl, or competing for it in the Championship Game again. I don't see, why would you think any different? Everyone's back and they've made some great additions. So if that's why you're in it, you're going to have an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, if not win it. This year, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't have a chance next year. From that standpoint, I don't see why he wouldn't stay, but who knows."
And if you were at Swing Time in Waukesha, you might have seen Brett take some swings in the batting cages, and just sit on a bench and talk to some unsuspecting fans.
