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Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame running back Ahman Green revealed Thursday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Green, 49, shared the diagnosis for the first time publicly on the “Go Long with Tyler Dunne” podcast. He said he dealt with symptoms like his feet twitching in his sleep before he received the official diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s in January 2025.
“I knew something was going on long before that,” Green, who was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2014, said. “I just got a hold of some doctors that I was able to get in contact with and get the diagnostics, get the testing, and finally got it tested.”
Green described his short-term memory as “trash.” Along with the twitch in his sleep, he also said he sleepwalks some nights, with no recollection of it until his wife informs him the next morning.
Over the past year, Green shared the diagnosis with his family. He said he is taking some medication prescribed by his doctor but also has been focused on a healthy diet. Green said he prioritizes moving his body every morning with “old school calisthenics” workouts like push-ups, sit-ups and burpees. He’s also relied on social media to find morning routines to activate and move his joints.
“Just making sure that I stayed on track and kept on learning and getting things in order for myself,” Green said. “Helping my kids with the information. Letting them know, but then saying, ‘Hey, I got the reins. I’m in control. I’m not going to let this control me.’”
The Mayo Clinic describes Parkinson’s disease as a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time, causing stiffness, slow movement or balance issues. Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who played with Green in Green Bay, revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2024. Green said he stays in touch with his former quarterback and was planning to call Favre to update him.
“It needs to be up front; it needs to be a topic that’s always hit. And it’s not the end all,” Green said about discussing the impact of Parkinson’s on former NFL players. “I have a jump ahead of it just like anybody discovering they have some type of cancer in their body. I’m ahead of it right now. For the doctors that examined me, they said if they didn’t know what they knew about the early signs, they would have thought I was in great, healthy condition until they sat me down between taking my vitals to having me walk in front of them and what they saw in my gait and the way my shoulders hang.”
Green holds Packers franchise records for the most career rushing yards (8,322) and most rushing yards in a single season (1,883 in 2003). A third-round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1998 NFL Draft, Green played for the Packers from 2000 to 2006. He was a Pro Bowl selection for four consecutive seasons (2001-04) and reunited with the franchise for a final season in 2009.
When asked if the diagnosis scared him, Green said “no.”
“The way I look at it, my clock is going to stop ticking when I want it to stop ticking,” Green said. “That’s how I’m looking at it, and I’ve always been that way. The way I ran the ball, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to break both my legs to stop me running the ball.’”
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