On his 41st birthday, running back Chris Johnson shared a devastating update regarding his ongoing battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Initially diagnosed in May 2025 at the age of 39, the former NFL Offensive Player of the Year revealed his condition in June 2026. Now, as the aggressive neurodegenerative disease continues to progress, Johnson and his wife, Brittany, opened up about their battle with the disease. 

“My days look completely different than they used to,” Johnson opened up during a conversation with PEOPLE Magazine. “ALS has taken away a lot of my independence, especially with my arms and hands. So, I need help with things I never would have thought twice about before. I’d be in the gym and notice my right hand wasn’t as strong as it had always been. I couldn’t grip or lift the way I normally could, and it just didn’t feel right. 

“I mentioned it to Brittany a few times, but we both figured maybe I had pinched a nerve, or it was just wear and tear from playing football for so many years.”

In June, the three-time Pro Bowl running back told Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan that there was no history of ALS in his family. Johnson’s doctors categorized his condition as sporadic ALS. He further noted that it came as a surprise since “it can happen to someone who never expected it.”

ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease) destroys the nerves that control motor actions. It can affect the patients’ ability to speak, swallow, move, and, in worst cases, breathe. Johnson now uses a CPAP machine to breathe. He relies on his wife and other loved ones for basic needs.

Johnson admitted that the disease affects the whole family. He said on a heartbreaking note that he can no longer carry his youngest daughter to make a wish over her birthday cake.

“It wasn’t until we were taking the kids on spring break and we were riding in the car,” Brittany said in the interview with PEOPLE. “I’ll never forget, he mentioned that the Stanley Cup that he always carried around for water was really heavy to him. He felt like when he drank a couple of sips of water, he needed to put the cup down. And that’s when I really felt like that is weird because, yeah, it has a little weight to it, but nothing that you should have to put down after a couple sips.”

“I could tell that really scared her,” Johnson continued. “It was the first time either of us realized this wasn’t just an old football injury. From that moment on, Brittany went into action. She started calling every doctor she knew and made it her mission to figure out what was going on. Looking back now, that conversation with my Stanley Cup was really the moment everything changed.”

Johnson joined the NFL in 2008 after the Tennessee Titans acquired him in the first round of the draft. He spent a decade in the league, played for the New York Jets, and ended his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals. Through these ten years, he played 130 games (111 starts), recorded 9,651 rushing yards, and scored 55 touchdowns. He also received 307 passes for 2.255 yards to score nine touchdowns. He is widely known as ‘CJ2K,’ having rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.

The fact that the same legs that helped him set those records were weakened stunned Johnson and his family. Johnson admitted he hasn’t fully processed it. And once the shock is gone, he was left with two choices – give up or fight the disease. Of course, he chose to fight. 

However, the disease has progressed much faster than he initially anticipated. Right now, he can’t even hold a cup. And that’s the outcome despite his early diagnosis. 

The NFL world has stepped in to raise awareness about Johnson’s condition. Figures like Deion Sanders, Von Miller, Marshawn Lynch, Vince Young, and Edgerrin James have taken the once-famous ice bucket challenge, an activity that Johnson sought to revive in the wake of his condition.

“I stand with you. I’m here for you,” Lynch told Johnson.

ALS may have robbed Johnson of his physical independence. But his fight is far from over. He’s showing a similar determination that he once carried on the gridiron.