Chris Johnson Shares the Reality of Living With ALS After an NFL Career

Chris Johnson once built his NFL career on speed. During a 10-year run, the former running back became known for explosive plays, long touchdowns, and a 2,000-yard rushing season. Now, more than a year after receiving an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis, his daily life looks completely different.

Johnson can no longer speak without assistance. He struggles to hold his head upright and cannot walk without significant help. A bypass machine helps support his breathing, while family members assist with nearly every part of his routine.

Yet the hardest part for Johnson and his family is not only the physical progression of ALS. It is the loss of ordinary family moments that once seemed automatic.

His wife, Brittany, their children, his mother Alma Jackson, cousin Tamika, and longtime friend Malachi Bleus have become central to his care. Together, they are adjusting to a disease that has changed nearly every part of their lives.

A Family Facing ALS Together

During a photo shoot at Johnson’s home outside Orlando, an emotional moment unfolded between Chris and Brittany. She moved close to him and placed her hands on his forearms. When she kissed his forehead, Johnson began to cry.

The tears continued as members of his family gathered around him.

His 14-year-old son Kaden came over to check on him. His cousin Tamika stayed nearby. His 8-year-old daughter Honey approached him, followed by his mother, Alma. Johnson’s other twin son, Chris Jr., also watched nearby.

Instagram | @sportsillustrated | Chris Johnson’s family stays close and supports him as ALS changes their daily life and keeps him from many family activities.

Brittany helped wipe his face while also caring for his physical needs. Honey hugged his leg. Alma rubbed his face and adjusted his necklace.

The scene reflected the reality of Johnson’s life. ALS has taken away many of his physical abilities, but his family remains close.

Inside the large Florida home, an oxygen bypass machine runs every few seconds. The sound has become part of the household. Family members move around Johnson, offering assistance and comfort.

The disease cannot be reversed by family support. However, the people around him have refused to step away.

What ALS Has Taken From Daily Life

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. As the disease progresses, people can lose muscle strength and eventually develop serious problems with movement, speech, swallowing, and breathing.

Johnson’s progression has been rapid.

Brittany has watched physical abilities disappear one by one. She also sees the effect on their children, who have lost many of the activities they once shared with their father.

“The hardest part is just watching little pieces of him be torn away and just trying to imagine exactly what it is that he’s feeling,” Brittany says.

Before the diagnosis, Johnson was heavily involved in his children’s lives. He attended sports practices and games and spent time exercising with them. Honey would sometimes join him for five-mile walks.

The twins play wide receiver for their middle school football team. Their father had always been a familiar figure on the sideline.

That changed after his diagnosis.

One day before the family interview, the boys played a preseason middle school football game without him there. Brittany said the children were used to seeing their father at those events.

For the family, those missed moments have become one of the most painful parts of the disease.

From NFL Star to ALS Patient

Johnson retired from football in 2018 after a decade in the NFL. His career included three Pro Bowl selections, a 2,000-yard rushing season, the 2009 Offensive Player of the Year award, and first-team All-Pro honors.

He finished his career with 11,906 yards from scrimmage and 64 touchdowns.

His playing career included time with the Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals. During his first seven NFL seasons, he missed only one game.

After retirement, Johnson remained closely connected to football through his children and his own interests.

His home reflects that connection. A theater room contains 34 game balls from his football career. Ten framed jerseys hang near the pool area, including signed jerseys from Carson Palmer, Vince Young, and LenDale White.

An NFL Blitz arcade game sits in another part of the house.

His Titans jersey from draft night is also displayed, along with jerseys from Olympia High School in Orlando, East Carolina, two AFC Pro Bowls, and his time in Nashville.

Football remains part of the environment around him, even as ALS has changed what he can physically do.

When the Symptoms First Appeared

Johnson first noticed something was wrong in early 2025.

His right hand began to feel weak. He also struggled to grip weights at the gym. Because of his NFL background, an old nerve problem or another physical issue initially seemed possible.

The weakness continued.

Brittany began making calls, and Johnson visited specialists. The answers did not come quickly. In April 2025, he underwent an electromyography test in Nashville. ALS then became a serious possibility.

Instagram | @titans | In early 2025, former NFL player Johnson noticed persistent right-hand weakness he initially mistook for an old football injury.

A month later, neurologist James Wymer at the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases in Gainesville confirmed the diagnosis.

Johnson and Brittany had spent 10 years together before marrying following his diagnosis in May 2025.

The diagnosis changed their understanding of the future.

Communication Through Eye Movement

As ALS affected Johnson’s ability to speak, he recorded his voice so it could be used through a communication device.

He now controls that device with his eye movements.

This technology allows Johnson to express his thoughts even though his physical ability to communicate has declined.

When asked about his reaction to the diagnosis, Johnson explained that his first thoughts were about his family.

“Once it really sank in, my mind immediately went to my family,” he says. “I thought about Brittany and our kids, and about everything I still wanted to be here for.”

He thought about birthdays, graduations, weddings, and everyday moments that families often take for granted.

Johnson said fear, sadness, anger, and uncertainty followed the diagnosis. However, his attention quickly turned toward the people closest to him.

“After those emotions settled in, I made a decision,” Johnson says. “I realized every day was going to matter even more than it ever had before. I want to spend my time making memories and being present with the people I love.”

A Day Built Around Medical Care

Life now follows a strict routine.

Johnson and Brittany usually wake around 8 a.m. His morning begins with assistance using the bathroom and brushing his teeth. After that comes about two hours of stretching designed to help maintain as much muscle function as possible.

He then takes vitamins and trial medications intended to slow the progression of the disease.

A medical cart near him holds seven medication bottles.

Afternoons often include physical therapy or massage. Those sessions take place four or five days each week. Meals and nutritional supplements are also part of the schedule, with Brittany helping feed him.

Medical appointments remain a regular part of the week. Doctors and caregivers work on plans for managing his condition as it progresses.

Later in the day, Johnson spends time with his children and follows their football activities when possible.

The day often ends around midnight.

For Brittany, there is little separation between family life and caregiving. She manages Johnson’s daily needs while also trying to remain present for their children.

Friends and Family Provide Support

Johnson’s care extends beyond his immediate household.

His longtime friend Malachi Bleus has become an important part of the support system. The two men have known each other for 20 years.

Bleus makes an almost daily drive of about an hour each way from Lake Mary to help Johnson. He also travels to Massachusetts each month to obtain medication from Mass General Hospital, which Brittany then administers.

Bleus describes the responsibility as personal.

“It is paramount to be a friend to my brother when he’s in need, to make sure he has one of his friends that he was around every day,” Bleus says. “I take that personally, to not let him down. Wherever this goes, I will be his friend.”

For Brittany, that support matters because ALS has created a future filled with uncertainty.

She continues to think about what life may look like for the family while trying to remain hopeful.

“I think about the future with hope,” she says. “Of course, some days those little negative feelings creep in and you try to imagine what life would be like if something were to happen, but I try not to focus on that.”

Brittany also says she prays for a medical breakthrough that could give Johnson more time with his family.

Questions About Football and ALS

The cause of ALS remains unknown in most cases. About 10% of cases are considered familial, meaning they have a known genetic connection. Research has also examined possible links between ALS and factors such as smoking, environmental exposures, and military service.

Football has also become part of the discussion.

A study released by Boston University, Mass General Brigham, and the Concussion and CTE Foundation reported that former NFL players were four times more likely to be diagnosed with ALS than the general population.

That finding does not establish that football caused Johnson’s disease.

Johnson says his ALS is not genetic. He also says several neurologists who evaluated him raised his football career when discussing possible contributing factors.

“I don’t think anyone can say with 100% certainty what caused my ALS,” Johnson says. “Mine isn’t genetic, so there isn’t an obvious answer.”

During his NFL career, Johnson touched the football 2,472 times. He was never diagnosed with a concussion.

Still, repeated conversations with doctors have influenced how he views the possibility of a connection.

“After hearing that over and over,” Johnson says, “it’s hard not to believe football may have played a role.”

At the same time, he remains grateful for his career.

“Football gave me opportunities I never would have had otherwise, and I’m grateful for everything it brought into my life,” he says.

If he had known about the possible risks beforehand, Johnson says he still would have played football but would have chosen a different position.

Johnson’s Hall of Fame Case

Instagram | @sportsillustrated | Johnson built an enduring football legacy, earning spots in East Carolina’s and the Titans’ rings of honor.

Johnson’s football legacy remains another important part of his life.

Earlier in 2025, the Tennessee Titans announced that he would be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor. He is also a member of the East Carolina Hall of Fame.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton remains a separate matter.

Johnson believes his career deserves consideration. His case centers largely on how dominant he was during his best seasons rather than only his career totals.

His 2,000-yard rushing season places him among a small group of NFL running backs. Gale Sayers and Terrell Davis also built Hall of Fame cases around relatively short periods of exceptional production.

Among the six players with a 2,000-yard rushing season who were eligible for induction at the time discussed, Jamal Lewis and Johnson had not been inducted. Adrian Peterson, Derrick Henry, and Saquon Barkley were not yet eligible.

Johnson has not reached the semifinalist stage of the Hall of Fame voting process.

“I do believe I belong in the Hall of Fame,” Johnson says. “When I look at what I accomplished during my career, I think I’ve earned the right to be part of that conversation.”

The honor still matters to him.

However, his priorities have changed.

“My family will always come first,” Johnson says. “But if that call ever comes, it would mean the world to me.”

A Career That Still Surrounds Him

Johnson’s home offers a detailed record of his football years.

A framed Sports Illustrated cover dated Aug. 23, 2010, hangs behind his exercise bike. The image shows Johnson during a game in Houston, with the headline “Crash Course: Hard Hits and Short Careers.”

The contrast is striking.

The athlete in the photograph represents a period when Johnson’s body allowed him to move at remarkable speed. The man sitting nearby now depends on machines, caregivers, and assistive technology.

Still, the connection to football remains.

His children have also carried that interest forward. The twin boys continue playing football, while Honey remains active in her own interests.

Johnson’s family describes him as someone who still tries to be present for the people around him.

His son Lee is entering his junior year at Florida A&M and is pursuing a doctorate in dermatology.

Johnson says he wants to be there for each stage of his children’s lives.

Why Johnson Went Public

Johnson first publicly discussed his ALS diagnosis during an interview with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America” on June 29.

He later said he wished he had shared the diagnosis sooner.

His children were not told about the official diagnosis until shortly before that interview, more than a year after Johnson and Brittany learned about it.

Now, Johnson wants greater attention on ALS and the families affected by it.

The renewed public conversation has also brought back the Ice Bucket Challenge, which became widely known in 2014. Steve Gleason, the former New Orleans Saints special teams player diagnosed with ALS in 2011, helped keep public attention on the disease.

After Johnson spoke publicly, many people across the NFL participated in the challenge in his honor.

During NBC’s broadcast of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and his “Football Night in America” colleagues also wore shirts honoring Johnson.

For Johnson, the attention is not simply about his own diagnosis.

He hopes increased awareness can lead to more research and better answers for other families.

The Moments Johnson Wants Most

Johnson’s biggest hopes are not tied to statistics, awards, or football records.

He wants time.

He wants to walk his daughter down the aisle. He wants to watch his twin sons reach their goals. He wants to see Lee finish college and become a doctor.

“I want to walk Honey down the aisle one day,” Johnson says. “I want to watch my twins achieve their dreams, whatever those dreams may be. I want to see Lee graduate from college and become a doctor.”

Those milestones now carry a different meaning because ALS has made time feel limited.

“At the end of the day, I just want more time with the people I love,” Johnson says. “Those moments mean everything to me.”

A Family Focused on the Present

Instagram | thebrittanyanne | Moving past football, Johnson now prioritizes family and being present for his children’s biggest milestones.

Johnson’s family continues to adjust to the physical changes caused by ALS.

His son Lee describes the experience in terms of a difficult contrast: his father still thinks, dreams, creates, and cares about others in the same way, but his body no longer responds as it once did.

“I still see a great person,” Lee says. “Even before it progressed, he was still trying to do the same things that he did before. Show up for everybody, do what he can, be there for the twins, be there for Honey, be there for me if I need something.”

Lee says the major change is physical.

Johnson’s mother, Alma, has also struggled with the diagnosis.

“To be honest, I haven’t processed it fully,” Alma says. “It hurts. It’s unbearable. It’s everything but good. But I have to be there to support my son and to keep him strong.”

She describes Johnson as a fighter and says the family is fighting alongside him.

That support was visible throughout the photo shoot. Family members stayed close, helped with small tasks, and offered reassurance.

What Comes Next for Chris Johnson

As the day ended at Johnson’s Florida home, a storm moved across the area. Rain hit the large windows, while thunder sounded in the distance.

Outside, the pool deck showed signs of neglect. Palm trees had died during a February freeze, and parts of the lawn were bare.

Inside, none of that mattered.

Johnson remained in the same gray chair where he had spent most of the day. The bypass machine continued working. His children moved around the house. Brittany stayed close, while Alma remained nearby.

The physical surroundings could wait.

The family’s attention remained on Johnson.

ALS has changed nearly every part of Chris Johnson’s daily life, but his priorities remain centered on his family. Brittany, his children, his mother, and close friends now play an even larger role in his routine and care.

Football once shaped much of Johnson’s life. Today, his focus is on being present for the people he loves and witnessing important moments in his children’s lives, from football games and graduations to future milestones.

Johnson cannot control the progression of ALS, but he continues to value the time he has with his family. His experience also highlights the uncertainty surrounding the disease and the ongoing need for research into its causes and treatment.

For Johnson, family now matters more than football records or honors. The moments he hopes to share with his children have become his greatest priority.