Former NFL running back Chris Johnson is sharing heartbreaking health news after being diagnosed with ALS.
The former Tennessee Titans star, 40, opened up about his diagnosis during a pre-taped interview with Michael Strahan that aired on Good Morning America on June 29.
“I want people to know that I’m still me,” Johnson said. “ALS has changed what my body can do, but it hasn’t changed who I am.”
Johnson, one of the fastest running backs in NFL history, was famously known as “CJ2K” after his explosive 2,000-yard rushing season. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2025 at age 39.
The disease is progressive and has no cure. It attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, slowly taking away a person’s ability to move, speak, swallow and eventually breathe.
Johnson said the first warning sign was weakness in his right hand. At the time, he was still exercising every day and spending time with his four children, whom he shares with his wife, Brittany.
“At first it was little things like my grip didn’t feel right, and I wasn’t as strong as I’d always been,” he said.
Brittany initially believed the symptoms could be connected to his years playing football.
“I thought because of football and his career that it has to be something with that,” she said. “Maybe a pinched nerve or something along those lines, but never ALS.”
After several rounds of testing, doctors finally gave the family the diagnosis they had feared.
“We hoped it was something else, but after the third testing, they finally came down with a diagnosis of ALS,” Johnson said. “They told us about a medication that might extend life by a few months. Then they told us to get our affairs in order.”
“It was hard hearing that,” he added.
Doctors said Johnson has sporadic ALS, the most common form of the disease. It occurs in people with no known family history and makes up about 90% of cases.
“That’s one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking,” Johnson said. “It can happen to someone who never expected it.”
Johnson is being treated by Dr. Merritt Cudkowicz, a neurologist at Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute. Cudkowicz said Johnson has been receiving standard ALS care, including several medications meant to slow the illness.
“Chris has been on standard of care, which is about three different medications a month to slow down the illness,” Cudkowicz said. “But he was also part of a clinical trial of therapy that decreases inflammation. And I think that helped him a lot.”
Still, the disease has moved quickly.
In just over a year since his diagnosis, Johnson has lost the ability to speak and now uses a speech-generating device controlled by his eyes. Before he lost his voice, doctors recorded it so the device could sound like him.
“It’s continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined,” Johnson said. “I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body. Just over a year ago I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she could make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn’t do that.”
Despite the physical toll, Johnson said his mind is still sharp and he wants people to remember that he is still the same person.
“People sometimes look at the physical disability and assume you’re not the same person,” he said. “I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn’t cooperate.”
Johnson said he made a choice early on to keep fighting.
“Honestly, I don’t know if you ever fully process it,” he said. “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.”
He said he decided to go public with his diagnosis because he hopes his story can help 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.
For Brittany, the diagnosis immediately brought fear for their children.
“All I could think about was our kids and how young they are,” she said. “You’re in denial. You want it to be anything else. You want the doctors to be wrong.”
“The life that we previously had is now a thing of the past,” she continued. “But we’re still hopeful. We’re hopeful that a breakthrough will happen or that God, a miracle will happen.”
Johnson credited his wife and children with helping him keep going through the hardest parts of the disease.
“She hasn’t left my side through any of this,” he said.
“My kids are also a huge part of why I keep going,” he continued. “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 said becoming his primary caregiver has changed their lives completely, but she remains committed to standing beside him.
“It’s tough,” she said. “We have good days, we have bad days. Our life has shifted so much and it’s a heavy workload, but I have no doubt that this is what I was called to do.”
Though there is no cure for ALS, Johnson said research and clinical trials give him hope.
“Seeing how hard these doctors and researchers are working gives me hope,” he said. “As long as they’re fighting for people with ALS, I’m going to keep fighting too.”