Johnson spent six seasons as a highly lauded running back with the Tennessee Titans during his decade-long NFL career
NEED TO KNOW
- Former Titans running back Chris Johnson is reflecting on his decade-long career in the NFL amid his ALS diagnosis
- Johnson says he supports his twin sons playing football but emphasizes understanding the risks and prioritizing their health
- The former athlete hopes sharing his story raises awareness about ALS and the need for further research into neurological diseases
Chris Johnson earned the nickname “CJ2K” during his 10-year NFL career when he rushed for 2,006 yards in the Tennessee Titans’ 2009 season.
In his six seasons with the Titans, who drafted him in 2008, Johnson was elected to the Pro Bowl three times and was named a First-team All-Pro and NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 after reaching the 2,000-yard rushing milestone. He retired in 2018 after four seasons between the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, and the 41-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most explosive running backs in NFL history.
Now, Johnson is “fighting” every day against an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis that he received some 17 months ago at just 39 years old. The former running back says his prolific football career lurks in the background of every conversation he has about the disease.
“Football has come up throughout this process when we’ve talked with doctors because I played the game basically my whole life,” he tells PEOPLE, using a speech-generating tablet device that he controls with his eyes. “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.”
Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty
A progressive neurological disease, ALS destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement — leading to paralysis and eventual respiratory failure. With that in mind, Johnson says he “can’t help but wonder” about the true severity of the toll football has taken on him.
“When you spend that many years taking hits and putting your body through what we put our bodies through,” he adds, “of course you think about it.”
Even so, Johnson isn’t letting his condition impact his twin sons’ participation in the sport. CJ and Kaden, both 14, play the sport competitively — the athleticism is in their blood, but Johnson is acutely aware of the fine line.
“I don’t look at what I’m going through and say, ‘My kids shouldn’t play because of it,’” he says. “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.”
Credit: Octavio Jones
Johnson’s wife, Brittany, shares a similar stance.
“[Chris] always just says as long as they enjoy it, he wants them to be able to do what they love. Of course, not at the expense of their bodies,” she says. “It is something that I think about, and it’s something that I worry about, but they’ve been so engulfed in it most of their lives that they don’t want to stop.”
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Ultimately, Johnson hopes that sharing his story will bring increased awareness not only to ALS as a disease, but also to emphasize the need for further research in the interdisciplinary area as a whole.
“I don’t think it would be right for me to say, ‘Football caused my ALS,’ because I don’t know that, but I also don’t think you can ignore the question,” he says. “I think the possible connection between football, repeated trauma and neurological diseases needs to continue to be studied so players and their families can have better answers.”
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