Green Bay Packers career rushing leader Ahman Green announced that he is dealing with Parkinson’s disease.
Green, 49, said he was diagnosed with early onset of the disease in January 2025.
Per the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time.
“Just like anybody discovering that they have some type of cancer in their body, I’m ahead of it right now,” Green said during an interview on the podcast “Go Long with Tyler Dunne.”
Prior to his announcement on the podcast, Green said he only shared his diagnosis with family and select friends.
“I had a little bit of the feet twitching when I’m in my sleep and stuff like that,” he said. “I mean, I knew something was going on long before that. I just got a hold of some doctors (and) was able to get in contact with and get the diagnostics, get the testing and finally got it tested.”
Green rushed for 8,322 yards with the Packers, including 1,883 in 2003. He broke Hall of Famer Jim Taylor’s franchise record of 8,207 yards.
The four-time Pro Bowl selection played for the team from 2000-06 after coming to Green Bay in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. He rejoined the Packers in 2009 after spending two seasons with the Houston Texans.
For now, Green feels he has a grasp of what he needs to do in order to live with the disease.
“I got the reins,” he said. “I’m in control. I’m not going to let this control me. There (are) some medicines that I’ve been taking from the doctor’s side of it, so I made sure (to stay) on my protocol there but on my side, the food is my medicine.
“I’m ahead of it right now. For the doctors that examine me, they said really, if they didn’t know what they knew about the early signs, they would have thought I was in great (shape) … until they really sat me down, between taking my vitals to having me walk in front of them and what they saw in my walk, in my gait and the way my shoulders hang.”
Green retired with 9,205 rushing yards and 2,883 receiving yards in 148 games (97 starts). He scored 60 touchdowns on the ground and 14 more as a receiver. He added 521 rushing yards in eight playoff games.
