Who Is Brett Favre’s Wife? All About Deanna Favre

Mar. 15, 2025

Brett Favre and Deanna Favre attend the 2015 ESPYS on July 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Brett Favreand his wife, Deanna Favre (née Tynes), are high school sweethearts who’ve managed to stick together through thick and thin.

In 1989, the couple welcomed their daughter Brittany. Just two years later, Brett was drafted into theNFL, where he spent one season with the Atlanta Falcons before joining the Packers. However, things weren’t always smooth sailing between the pair.

“There were times when we were broken up and we were seeing other people, but we still talked,” Deanna said in an interview withThe Journal Times.“I always knew if the relationship didn’t work out, we could always be friends.”

Eventually, though, the pair decided to give things a real shot and in 1995, Deanna moved to Wisconsin so they could live together with their daughter. The following year, the couple married and in 1999, their second daughter, Breleigh, was born.

Brett Favre and Deanna Favre after the second half of an NFL divisional football playoff game on January 12, 2008.Mike Roemer/AP

Mike Roemer/AP

The couple has experienced ups and downs in their marriage, from Deanna’s breast cancer battle toBrett’s Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, which he shared publicly for the first time in September 2024.

Brett was inducted into theHall of Famein 2016 and, during his speech, he took the opportunity to praise his wife, calling Deanna the “strongest and most courageous person I know."

So who is Brett Favre’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Deanna Favre and her relationship with the former NFL star.

They met in high school

Brett Favre and Deanna Favre at the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year event on December 4, 2007 in New York City.George Napolitano/FilmMagic

George Napolitano/FilmMagic

Brett and Deanna grew up in the small town of Kiln, Miss. They attended the same school throughout their entire childhood but didn’t officially meet until high school.

During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Brett detailed meeting Deanna for the first time at his older brother’s birthday party. “There was one person that caught my eye and one person only,” he recalled. “She’s as beautiful today as she was Dec. 18, 1983, in my living room.”

Although the two — who were both 14 at the time — were fairly shy, they started talking and flirting that night. “The chemistry was there right away,” Deanna toldThe Journal Times.

Their early courtship helped shape the foundation of their relationship. “We started dating so young,” she told theNew York Daily News.“So I’ve always known that he was a good, quality person with great character.”

She was a star basketball player

Brett Favre and his wife, Deanna Favre, pose for a photo.Brett Favre Instagram

Brett Favre Instagram

Like Brett, Deanna was a gifted athlete in high school — she even went to college on a basketball scholarship.

In an article she wrote forGuideposts Magazine,Deanna said that she Brett got to know each other shooting hoops on the basketball court.

“I was just as much a jock as he was,” she wrote. “We were officially a couple, but most of what we did together was sports. We played catch on our dates and for a present he bought me a glove and a catcher’s mitt.”

They share two daughters

Brett Favre, Deanna Favre and Breleigh Favre arrive at the 2010 ESPY Awards on July 14, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic

Deanna’s college basketball career was cut short after she became pregnant at the age of 19.

Brett and Deanna welcomed their daughter Brittany on Feb. 6, 1989. Over a decade later, their second daughter, Breleigh, was born on July 13, 1999.

They married in 1996

Brett Favre and Deanna Favre at the 2008 ESPY Awards on July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Mazur/WireImage

“We just talked about it one night and said, ‘It’s time to make it or break it.’ We needed to either move in together and try to work it out, or we needed to break it off and go on with our lives,” she toldThe Journal Times.

In 1995, Deanna moved to Green Bay so that she and Brittany could live with Brett. Within a year, they were married.

The couple tied the knot on July 14, 1996, in a small, private ceremony at St. Agnes Catholic Church. Their daughter Brittany served as flower girl. Speaking to PEOPLE, Deanna described the wedding as “real brief, short and sweet.”

They have three grandchildren

Brett and Deanna are also grandparents, thanks to their older daughter Brittany, who is a mom to three boys: Parker Brett, Alexander “A.J.” James and Oscar.

Brittany welcomed her first child, Parker, on April 2, 2010, with her ex.

In 2013, she married her now-husband, Alex Mallion. The following year, their son A.J. was born. The couple’s younger son, Oscar, was born in 2017.

She’s a breast cancer survivor

Deanna Favre on ‘Good Morning America’ on October 21, 2010.Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty

Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty

Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 at the age of 35 and underwent a lumpectomy and chemotherapy.

In an article she wrote forGuideposts Magazine,she detailed the experience of going through chemo. Along with the pain, she struggled to cope with losing her hair, but as a show of support, Brett shaved his head.

“Going through all that adversity together brought us even closer,” she told theNew York Daily News.

She also published a book,Don’t Bet Against Me,a memoir about overcoming challenges.

She introduced him at his Hall of Fame ceremony

Brett Favre and Deanna Favre during the NFL Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on August 6, 2016, in Canton, Ohio.Joe Robbins/Getty

Joe Robbins/Getty

In 2016, Brett was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The NFL star opted to have Deanna present him during the ceremony.

According to the Hall of Fame, Deanna was only the second wife to serve as a presenter for an inductee, but for Brett, it was a no-brainer.

“Having my wife introduce me was an easy choice, considering she was there long before my first touchdown pass, long after the last,”he said during his speech.

Brett also called her a “wonderful mother,” an “exceptional athlete” and a “woman of faith."

source: people.com