Injuries happen in sports, especially in football. The NFL has gone to great lengths in recent years to try and minimize the injuries that players suffer, with a focus on head injuries. Brett Favre, the former Green Bay Packers’ legendary quarterback, would be happy with how the league is focusing on concussions.

This year they introduced a new attachment for the helmet for players that are part of those collisions consistently, such as offensive and defensive linemen, to lower the risk of injuries to the head.

But, these precautions were not always in place. Seeing how some players transition to life after football shows just how damaging this game can be. Concussions can severely hamper a person’s well-being and the sensitivity to head injuries did not always exist.

One player who played in the league before then was Brett Favre. Favre was one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, ranking near the top of all-time lists in numerous passing categories. One of the most impressive records that Favre has is that he played in 297 consecutive games.

That is unprecedented for an NFL player, even for a quarterback, who has a lot of rules protecting them. However, if Favre started his career any later than he did, that streak very well may not exist.

According to Farve, he suffered thousands of concussions in his career. He recently spoke about it when making an appearance on The Bubba Army radio show.

“Concussions happen all the time,” Favre said, via TMZ.com. “You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see flashes of light or ringing in your ears but you’re able to play. That’s a concussion.”

“So, based on that, thousands,” he said. “Had to be, because every time my head hit the turf, there was ringing or stars going, flash bulbs . . . but I was still able to play.”

While that number probably has some hyperbole, there is certainly a good chance that Favre suffered numerous concussions throughout his career with the Packers and elsewhere. He played in the NFL for 20 seasons and played throughout his life before that in grade school, high school and college.

Concussions can occur anytime, not only in games. When you consider all the practices that Favre also took part in, it would not be surprising if he was closer to the number that he provided than one would tend to think.