Legendary quarterback and future NFL Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre spoke to TODAY's Matt Lauer about football, concussions and his future in an interview to air Monday.
Favre doesn't have a son, but if he did, he told Lauer, "I would be real leery of him playing" football. "In some respects, I'm almost glad I don't have a son because of the pressures he would face. Also the physical toll that it could possibly take on him, not to mention if he never made it, he's gonna be a failure in everyone's eyes. But more the physical toll that it could take."
In October, Favre said that at age 44 he’s facing “scary” memory issues linked to on-field concussions. “I think after 20 years, God only knows the toll,” the ex-Green Bay Packer told a Washington, D.C. radio station last month, adding that he could not recall an entire season of his daughter’s soccer games.
"I try to...offset the aging process, as we all are, by diet or running or biking, whatever,'' Favre told Lauer. "But as we get older, I mean, it happens to all of us. You know, 'Where's my glasses?'
"I think to me the wakeup call was (wife) Deanna and I were talking recently, and she was talking about Breleigh, our youngest, playing soccer. I've pretty much made every game that she's ever played (in) basketball, volleyball. She played softball one year, she played basketball a couple years. As I find out, she played soccer. I don't remember her playing soccer. She played right over here, and that was probably where my first inclination that something ain't right."
Favre also gave his thoughts about the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal involving offensive linemen Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin.
"My initial reaction was, 'You gotta be kidding me,''' Favre said. "Pro football - bullying? It's the toughest sport, most violent, not to mention you're men, some older than others. So it's not like a little 12-year-old on the playground. All I'm saying is my initial reaction was a grown man that's 320 pounds is getting bullied?"