Former NFL star Chris Johnson marked his 41st birthday on Wednesday with a heartbreaking update on his ongoing battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Speaking from a wheelchair with the assistance of an eye-controlled speech-generating tablet, the former Tennessee Titans running back said ALS has taken away much of his physical independence while leaving his mind fully alert.
‘ALS has taken away a lot of my independence,’ he told People. ‘As a father, your first instinct is to protect your kids. You don’t want them to be scared or feel like their whole world is changing.’
Johnson was diagnosed with ALS in 2025 and publicly disclosed his condition to ABC earlier this year. Asked what has been most difficult about living with the disease, he described the emotional toll of remaining mentally aware as his body deteriorates.
‘Having your mind still completely there,’ he said, ‘while your body stops doing things you’ve done your entire life.’
‘I still hear everything,’ he added. ‘I understand everything. I still joke, think, make decisions, get frustrated and want to be included in conversations about my own life. ALS may change what my body can do, but it hasn’t changed who I am at my core.’
Chris Johnson appeared on GMA earlier this year before the progression of ALS left him using a wheelchair
Johnson’s wife, Brittany, has said she believes her purpose is caring for the former NFL star
During an ABC interview over the summer, Johnson communicated through his speech-generating device while speaking with his wife
As Johnson’s condition progressed, the Titans postponed his Ring of Honor induction ceremony, which had been scheduled for Week 1 in Nashville.
ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease after the legendary New York Yankees slugger, causes the degeneration of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
Although researchers have not established a definitive connection between ALS, football and head trauma, the Concussion and CTE Foundation reported in July that 10 former NFL players under 50 have died from the disease since 1960.
Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, a co-author of the study, said its results point toward a possible relationship between football and ALS.
‘ALS deaths among former NFL players, particularly those who die at younger ages, are occurring far more often than could possibly be expected by chance,’ he said. ‘These findings are deeply concerning and underscore the urgent need to understand how repetitive head impacts and motor neuron disease may be connected.’
As with other former football players diagnosed with ALS, Johnson’s illness has not been directly connected to head trauma sustained during his playing career.
Johnson ranks among the NFL’s most productive running backs. He became only the sixth player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season when he reached the mark in 2009, finishing his career with 9,651 rushing yards. He added 2,255 receiving yards, giving him 11,923 yards from scrimmage during his 10-year career, 113th-most in NFL history.
His career workload was equally remarkable: Johnson recorded 2,470 touches, the 38th-highest total in league history, meaning only 37 players were given the ball more often.
‘Football has come up throughout this process when we’ve talked with doctors because I played the game basically my whole life,’ Johnson said. ‘That’s a big part of my history. My doctors haven’t told me that football caused my ALS, and they haven’t been able to point to one specific reason why I developed it.’
Johnson is a father of four and acknowledges that life with ALS is dramatically different from what it was a year ago
Johnson told People he remains hopeful that researchers will find a cure and is grateful for the time he has with his family
Despite this, Johnson has not stopped his sons from playing football.
‘I don’t look at what I’m going through and say, ‘My kids shouldn’t play because of it,’ Johnson said. ‘But as a father, of course, I think about things differently now. I want them to understand the risks and take care of their bodies. If football’s what they love, and that’s the path they choose, I’m going to support them. More than anything, I want my kids to be healthy, happy and able to build lives they love.’
The good news, according to renowned neurologist Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, is that treatment has slowed Johnson’s disease.
Still, an exact prognosis remains elusive, and in the meantime, Johnson is focused on a family that includes wife Brittany and their four children, all of whom he considers to be victims of the disease.
‘I’m still a husband and a dad,’ Johnson said. ‘ALS doesn’t just affect the person diagnosed—it affects the whole family. Brittany’s life changed too. The kids’ lives changed. There’s no clocking out from it.’
Johnson only retired in 2017 and was previously the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2009
Brittany now serves as Johnson’s primary caregiver, which she described as her ‘calling.’
These days, Johnson needs a CPAP machine to help him breathe and needs to be both fed and changed by loved ones.
The experience has obviously been difficult for a player once considered to be the fastest in the NFL, but he remains optimistic that a cure will be discovered that can help him be there for his family, physically.
‘I don’t know which treatment or discovery is eventually going to change things, but I believe somebody is going to figure this disease out,’ he said. ‘Until then, I’m going to keep fighting to be here for my family. That’s what gives me hope.’
