For nearly two decades, Brett Favre was the NFL’s version of the Energizer Bunny. He broke his fingers, sprained his ankles, and took blow after blow, but none of that was able to keep him out of action. His streak of 321 consecutive starts is a testament to that. But behind that superhuman feat was a dark truth that nearly cost him his life.

“Brett Favre played 297 consecutive games. Starts. Including 321 with the playoffs in,” entrepreneur Shawn Meaike said on the Fully Loaded Podcast. “There’s no active quarterback that’s even above 100.”

Chris Carter responded: “297 games. Also 2,000 Vicodin. Almost killed him. But it didn’t kill him. Untouchable. 15 straight years. Impossible. A robot.”

Favre played throughout his career by depending on painkillers. In fact, he talked about this extensively, most notably with Dr.Phil on his podcast, Bolling with Favre, in 2021.

He talked about how the addiction started with a separated shoulder injury against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994. He was prescribed Vicodin to help manage the pain, and that ultimately led him down the dark path to substance addiction.

“It sort of numbed the pain, but it also felt pretty good,” Favre admitted back then. “I found that if the pain lingered, if you know what I mean, I could get more pills. And it snuck up on me. It was two pills that gave me a buzz, and then it was four. At its peak, I was taking 16 Vicodin ES all at one time.”

The addiction worsened, according to Favre, and he started procuring pills from multiple sources, including his own teammates.

“You start learning how to manipulate the system, and you become very good at it,” Favre said.

The addiction took a turn for the worse when, in 1995, due to his consumption of Vicodin, Favre suffered his first seizure. A doctor in Green Bay discovered Favre’s addiction, but Favre was able to convince him that he would stop. But he had no such intention.

The remarkable thing about this story is that Favre was at the absolute height of his powers during this span. From 1995 to 1997, Favre was the first person in league history to win three consecutive league MVP awards. And the highlight was him and the Packers winning Super Bowl XXXI. Favre was essentially the face of the league, and yet most people did not know his private battles with addiction.

Unfortunately for him, despite the highs of his on-field success, his addiction issues reared their ugly head again. Following an offseason ankle surgery in February 1996, Favre suffered his second and more significant seizure in the hospital room while recovering.

A few months later, after recovering from the seizure, Favre entered a 75-day rehab program. Unfortunately, Favre was not committed to getting better.

“I finally figured out, agree with what they’re saying,” Favre said. “In other words, manipulate again. And then when I got out, I continued to do what I was doing.”

Decades later, Carter’s comments serve as a further reminder of how extraordinary Favre’s career was. At the time of his retirement, Favre held essentially every passing record in the book. This included most career passing yards, touchdowns, completions, and wins. And as for his record for most consecutive starts, it’s one of those records that you wonder will ever be broken.

While the public might remember Favre as the league’s ultimate Iron Man, what should not be forgotten was maybe his greatest accomplishment was overcoming a drug addiction that could have cost him his life.