NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre's recent announcement that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease raised questions about whether head injuries he suffered during his time on the gridiron could have sparked the degenerative neuromuscular condition. Researchers, in fact, have been exploring whether there's a link between concussions and Parkinson's since about 2012, said Dr. Melinda Burnett, a neurologist with the CHI Health Neurological Institute in Omaha.
While head injuries, pesticides and family history are considered risk factors, they're not strong ones, she said, particularly compared to the potent link between smoking and lung cancer. "The thing to remember about Parkinson's disease is that we still have not found the cause," said Burnett, who specializes in Parkinson's and other movement disorders and has a special interest in the connection between traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative conditions. Burnett also has a very personal connection to Parkinson's: Her father-in-law, who played professional football for two and a half years and was a wide receiver on the New York Jets' 1969 Superbowl-winning team led by quarterback Joe Namath , died in 2021 after battling the disease.
He was 76. Thomas Burnett also played briefly for the San Diego Chargers before retiring from football, earning a doctorate and spending more than 40 years as a teacher, administrator and handball coach at Missouri State University. He donated his brain to a Boston Unive.
