Ex-All Pro Running Back Diagnosed With ALS

Former NFL star Chris Johnson revealed Monday that he has been diagnosed with ALS, the devastating neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Johnson, the former Tennessee Titans standout and three-time Pro Bowl running back, shared the diagnosis during an emotional interview with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan.

The 40-year-old said doctors diagnosed him last year, when he was 39.

“There’s no history of ALS in my family,” Johnson said in the interview that aired Monday on “GMA.” “My doctors believe my case is what’s called sporadic ALS, which is actually how the vast majority of ALS cases happen.”

Johnson said the diagnosis blindsided him because nothing in his family history suggested he was at risk.

He continued, “That’s one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking. It can happen to someone who never expected it.”

Johnson said he was still working out daily, spending time with his wife, Brittany, and raising their four children when he noticed the first warning sign.

“I first noticed weakness in my right hand,” he said. “At first, it was little things like my grip didn’t feel right and I wasn’t as strong as I’ve always been.”

Brittany Johnson said she initially assumed the problem was tied to her husband’s years in football.

“I thought because of football and, you know, his career, that it had to be something with that,” she told Strahan. “Maybe … a pinched nerve or something along those lines, but never ALS.”

Johnson was selected by the Titans in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft and became one of the most electric running backs of his generation.

He piled up more than 11,000 total offensive yards during his NFL career before retiring in 2017.

ALS, short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative neurological disease that attacks the nervous system and can eventually rob patients of the ability to move, speak, swallow or breathe.

There is no known cure, though some treatments may slow the disease and improve quality of life.

Johnson described the diagnosis as a gut punch.

NFL star Chris Johnson opens up about finding the strength to speak out about his ALS diagnosis and how he was inspired by Eric Dane. pic.twitter.com/pI3BE73OdG

— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 29, 2026

He said the doctor who diagnosed him told him a medication might extend his life by a few months and advised him and his wife to “get our affairs in order.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if you ever fully process it,” he said of the diagnosis. “At first, you’re in shock. Then you realize you have two choices. You can give up, or you can fight. I chose to fight.”

Johnson said his fight changed after he watched a “Good Morning America” interview featuring ABC News’ Diane Sawyer, the late actor Eric Dane and Dane’s doctor, Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, a leading ALS researcher.

“After watching ‘Good Morning America’ and seeing Dr. Merit with Eric Dane, we reached out to her,” Chris Johnson said. “She was willing to think more creatively, offering experimental treatments that might help and advance research.”

He continued, “We’ve been with her ever since, and that changed the course of our fight.”

Cudkowicz, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, said Johnson has received standard care and participated in a clinical trial.

“Chris has been on standard of care, which is about three different medications that slow down the illness,” she said. “But he was also part of a clinical trial, a therapy that decreases inflammation, and I think that helped him a lot.”

Even with treatment, Johnson said the disease has progressed far faster than he imagined.

He now uses a speech-generating device to communicate.

His voice was recorded soon after his diagnosis, allowing the device to speak in a voice that sounds like his own.

Chris Johnson

“It’s continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined. I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body,” he said. “Just over a year ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she’d make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn’t do that.”

Johnson said his wife and children have kept him going through the brutal medical fight.

“She hasn’t left my side through any of this,” he said of Brittany Johnson. “My kids are also a huge part of why I keep going. Every day I wake up wanting more time with them to make more memories and just be their dad. They give me a reason to keep fighting.”

Brittany Johnson said the family’s life has changed dramatically, but she has not wavered in caring for her husband.

“Our life has shifted so much. It’s a heavy workload,” she said. “But I have no doubt that this is what, you know, I was called to do.”

The Johnsons said they are speaking publicly to raise awareness about ALS and the urgent need for more research.

An effort supporting ALS research in Johnson’s honor has been established at the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS, which Cudkowicz leads.

Johnson said better detection, research and treatments are badly needed for patients facing the same diagnosis.

“I can’t even hold a cup if I try, and that’s despite being diagnosed relatively early and doing everything we can, including participating in multiple experimental treatments,” Chris Johnson said. “That’s why early detection, more research, and better treatments are so important. We have to give people a better chance than what’s available today.”

Johnson also wants fans to understand that while ALS has changed his body, it has not taken away who he is.

“I want people to know that I’m still me. ALS has changed what my body can do, but it hasn’t changed who I am,” he 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

For a player once known for blazing speed and jaw-dropping bursts on Sundays, Johnson’s new fight is far more personal.

But his message is the same one that defined his football career: he is not giving up.

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