Tejal Somvanshi
Chris Johnson, who set the NFL single-season rushing record with the Tennessee Titans, is now non-verbal and communicating through an eye-tracking speech device. Johnson, 40, was diagnosed with sporadic ALS in May 2025. The diagnosis became public in June 2026. His wife, Brittany Johnson, is his primary caregiver.
Johnson said the first symptom he noticed was reduced grip strength in his right hand. Within 16 months of diagnosis, the disease has progressed to the point where he requires breathing support. The Tennessee Titans postponed his Ring of Honor ceremony on September 13, 2026, after Johnson and his family were unable to travel to Nashville. The organization said the ceremony would be rescheduled.
For families confronting an unexpected motor neuron diagnosis, Johnson’s timeline is a hard illustration of how quickly sporadic ALS can move. ALS Association data describes it as a neurodegenerative disease affecting the motor neurons that control voluntary muscle movement. When those neurons stop functioning, the muscles they control weaken and eventually stop working. Johnson has no family history of the condition; his doctors classify it as sporadic, meaning it arose without an identified genetic cause. For a full explanation of ALS stages and assistive communication technology, see our ALS guide. See how other professional athletes have navigated neurodegenerative diagnoses in our feature on neurological health in sports.
Johnson has used the eye-gaze tablet to write letters to his four children and to speak publicly about his experience. His position, expressed through those communications, is that the disease has changed what he can do physically without changing who he is.
ALS comes in two main forms. Familial ALS is inherited and accounts for roughly 5 to 10 percent of cases. Sporadic ALS, which accounts for the rest, has no single identified cause. Research continues into whether repeated physical trauma — including in contact sports — plays a role in some sporadic cases, but no causal link between Johnson’s NFL career and his ALS has been publicly established. The science does not support a blanket conclusion in either direction.
Did football cause Chris Johnson’s ALS? Johnson has been diagnosed with sporadic ALS, meaning no genetic cause has been identified and no direct link to his NFL career has been publicly established. Research into the possible relationship between repetitive physical impacts and neurodegenerative disease is ongoing, but no specific causal finding has been confirmed in his case.
The Titans have not announced a rescheduled date for the Ring of Honor ceremony.
