Player safety has always been a major topic of conversation in football, especially when it comes to head injuries. Repeated head impacts can increase the risk of neurological diseases later in a player’s life, including ALS. Former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson revealed last month that he was diagnosed with ALS in 2025. Now, former Carolina Panthers quarterback and ex-MVP Cam Newton has raised serious concerns about the long-term health and safety of former NFL players.

“I’m very intrigued to see what the NFL does in response to this,” Newton said on his 4th&1 podcast. “Because you don’t necessarily have to be in the NFL to kind of garner this. I see what happened to the Grey’s Anatomy actor. Multiple different individuals who suffer from this specific ailment.

“Why I say the NFL is because a lot of head trauma is linked to ALS. So, how do or what’s the process to kind of have guardrails to say, “Number one, how are you going to make the game safer? Because Chris Johnson played in the era of the league where coming across the middle, being hit was still a kind of thing that was being celebrated.”

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that could lead to muscle weakness, resulting in a person’s inability to speak, move, and breathe. Johnson’s condition, meanwhile, has progressed rapidly, as the Titans’ legend is now using a speech-generating device to converse.

“Honestly, I don’t know if you really fully process,” Johnson said on Good Morning America. “At first you’re in shock. Then you realize you have two choices: You can give up or you can fight. I chose to fight.”

However, ALS has long been a major concern among former NFL players. Stars like Steve Gleason, Dwight Clark, Tim Shaw, and many others were diagnosed with the disease after their playing careers. Clark, meanwhile, passed away just a year after his diagnosis. While the exact cause of ALS remains unknown, repeated head injuries are considered one of the potential risk factors that may contribute to the disease among athletes.

According to research, repetitive head impacts (RHIs) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may increase the risk of developing ALS. For a broader context, a study involving 19,423 NFL players who debuted between 1960 and 2019 and appeared in at least one professional game found that they had nearly four times higher ALS incidence and mortality rates than the general U.S. male population.

In Johnson’s case, the first symptom of ALS was noticed after he failed to maintain a firm grip. At that time, his wife, Brittany, also thought that the running back’s NFL career could be a reason behind his weakness. However, Johnson later learned of his condition when doctors diagnosed him with ALS. Since then, the 40-year-old has received prayers from the NFL community for his recovery. While there is no known cure to treat ALS, Chris Johnson will remain under medication.