OPINION:
Former NFL running back Chris Johnson, who once rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a season, appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday to talk about the disease that will lead to his painful death — ALS.
The segment itself was diseased with shame.
“There’s no history of ALS in my family,” Johnson said. “My doctors believe my case is what’s called sporadic ALS, which is actually how the vast majority of ALS cases happen.”
Some of those cases likely happen because of football. No one mentioned that.
Not Michael Strahan, the Hall of Fame defensive end, nor anyone else on “GMA.” The ABC network, after all, is a business partner with the NFL. The network is owned by Disney, which also owns ESPN, of which 10% is owned by the NFL. Strahan is also employed by another NFL business partner, Fox Sports, on its pregame show.
He didn’t ask Johnson, who played 10 years in the league with the Tennessee Titans, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, one question about whether the running back believed his years of football contributed to his ALS.
I know there aren’t any rules in the news business anymore, but for this to be the platform for this appearance, with Strahan as the interviewer, and not one word is spoken about the connection between football and ALS? Obscene.
Johnson, 40, used a speech-generating device based on recordings of his voice to speak, said he was stunned by the diagnosis, which he learned of in 2025. “That’s one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking,” he said. “It can happen to someone who never expected it.”
That shouldn’t happen to the next generation of Chris Johnsons. Anyone putting on a helmet and uniform today should not be caught by surprise anymore.
I’m not suggesting playing football is a death sentence, or that the risk of developing ALS is high.
But a 2021 study by Boston University’s CTE Center showed that pro football players are four times more likely to develop and die from ALS. The study suggested head impacts and traumatic brain injuries might play a role.
I think that message would, for the most part, probably be lost on pro players, who have too much of their lives — however damaged they might wind up being — to stop playing at that point. They’ve already gambled and will live or die with the results.
But for the parents of young high school football players — not the players themselves, who at that age are blessed and cursed with thoughts of immortality – but those in charge of those lives should be made aware of the risk, however small, to their children before signing those permission forms.
They should be well aware that they increase the risk of their children developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — and living a shortened life that will end, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s website, like this: “Most voluntary muscles are paralyzed. The ability to move air in and out of the lungs is severely compromised. Mobility is extremely limited; needs must be attended to by a caregiver. Poor respiration may cause fatigue, fuzzy thinking, headaches, and susceptibility to pneumonia. Speech may be no longer possible. Eating and drinking by mouth aren’t possible.”
Johnson later posted on social media about the connection between football and ALS.
“I hope the NFL steps up, invests in research and continues working to protect players — both now and for generations to come,” he posted. “Together, we can push toward better treatments and, one day, a cure.”
Not all together, though. For Strahan and the crew at “Good Morning America,” it’s not worth their time.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
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