Last February, former NFL running back Chris Johnson made the rounds in the days before the Super Bowl. He was fine.
Today, he’s battling ALS. To the point at which he can no longer speak.
Johnson revealed his condition in an interview with Michael Strahan on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“First, I want people to know I’m still me,” Johnson said. “ALS has changed what my body can do. But it hasn’t changed who I am.”
Johnson speaks with the assistance of a device controlled by his eyes. Shortly after his diagnosis, Johnson’s voice was recorded so that the machine-generated speech sounds like him.
He said it started when he noticed weakness in his right hand. “At first it was little things, like my grip didn’t feel right,” Johnson said. “And I wasn’t as strong as I’ve always been.”
Johnson’s wife, Brittany, said she thought it was simply a pinched nerve from his football career. Testing continued. Once Johnson was diagnosed with ALS, the outlook was grim.
“They told us about a medication that might extend life by a few months,” Johnson said regarding the initial message he received from his doctors. “Then they told us to get our affairs in order. It was hard hearing that, but after watching Good Morning America and seeing Dr. Merit [Cudkowicz] with Eric Dane, we reached out to her. She was willing to think more creatively, offering experimental treatments that might help in advance research.”
Johnson’s condition is regarded as a case of “sporadic ALS,” which occurs randomly in people with no known family history of the disease. More than 90 percent of all ALS cases fall into that category.
He has gone public with the goal of helping others. “If sharing my story helps even one person get diagnosed sooner, inspires more research, or gives another family hope, then it’s worth it,” Johnson said.
He said the disease has progressed faster than he ever imagined it would.
“I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body,” Johnson said. “Just over a year ago, I was picking up my seven-year-old daughter, so she’d make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn’t do that.”
He wants people to realize that patients with ALS remain who they used to be.
“Your mind stays sharp,” Johnson said. “People sometimes look at the physical disability and assume you’re not still the same person inside. I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn’t cooperate.”
Johnson was one of the best offensive players in the NFL. A first-round pick in 2008, he rushed for 2,006 yards in his second NFL season. That year, he set a record with more than 2,500 yards from scrimmage, and he was named the NFL’s offensive player of the year. (He said on PFT Live in February 2025 that reaching 2,500 total yards was his proudest accomplishment.)
Johnson completed his 10-year career in 2017 after a year with the Jets and three seasons with the Cardinals, He gained nearly 12,000 yards from scrimmage.
Currently, Johnson is fighting a much different battle. But he remains as determined today as he was when he played.
“Right now, there isn’t a cure, but we’re seeing more research, more clinical trials, and more promising ideas than ever before,” Johnson said. “Seeing how hard these doctors and researchers are working gives me hope.
“As long as they’re fighting for people with ALS, I’m going to keep fighting, too.”
We wish him the very best as he continues the fight. Here’s hoping that ongoing research eventually will lead to a cure for ALS.
