“I love Tennessee. I come back all the time. The city embraced me, the fans loved me,” former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson said in 2024. Johnson began his NFL career in Tennessee and spent his first six seasons with the franchise, setting multiple records along the way. Now, years later, the Titans are honoring his contributions.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tennessee will induct Johnson into its Ring of Honor on September 13, when the Titans open the 2026 season against the New York Jets. As that went down, the Titans’ controlling owner, Amy Adams Strunk, released a statement.

“Chris Johnson holds a special place in the hearts of our organization and our fans,” she said. “His stats speak for themselves, and he will forever remain a leader in our record books, but the man behind the yardage deserves just as much celebration. We look forward to welcoming him home on Sept. 13 and officially inducting him into the Titans Ring of Honor.”

The Titans drafted Johnson in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft with the 24th overall pick after he spent four years at East Carolina. Johnson, meanwhile, proved his worth starting from his rookie season itself. He rushed for 1,228 yards and scored 9 touchdowns in 2008, and doubled down the next year, when he became the sixth NFL running back to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season.

While the Titans made just one postseason during his six-year tenure, Chris Johnson finished his stint with the team with 7,965 rushing yards, 50 touchdowns, 2,003 receiving yards, and 8 receiving touchdowns. In the process, he rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of the six seasons.

Besides, Johnson was also named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2009 after leading the league in rushing yards and earning three consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2008 to 2010. Following his final season with the Titans in 2013, Johnson joined the Jets, where he played one season, before leaving for the Arizona Cardinals. After three seasons in Arizona, Johnson called it a career.

Fast forward to today, and Johnson will join the late Dave McGinnis, the former Titans assistant coach and radio analyst who will be inducted posthumously, in the Titans’ Ring of Honor. The announcement comes less than a month after Johnson revealed that he was diagnosed with ALS last year, and has been living with the condition ever since.

Chris Johnson’s ALS diagnosis is progressing rapidly

Progressive neurodegenerative disease in the NFL has become a major concern, especially for retired NFL players. The repeated hits on the head can result in diseases like dementia, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease. And less than a month ago, Chris Johnson revealed his own ALS diagnosis during a conversation with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America.

“At first, it was little things like my grip didn’t feel right and I wasn’t as strong as I’ve always been,” Johnson said. “There’s no history of ALS in my family. That’s one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking. It can happen to someone who never expected it.”

ALS is a progressive degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. An incurable disease, it causes a person to have difficulties in speaking, breathing, and even swallowing. Johnson’s condition, meanwhile, is reportedly growing rapidly, as the Titans’ legend is now using a speech-generating device to communicate.

“I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body,” Johnson added. “I can’t even hold a cup if I try, and that’s despite being diagnosed relatively early and doing everything we can, including participating in multiple experimental treatments. That’s why early detection, more research, and better treatments are so important. We have to give people a better chance than what’s available today.”

During his decade-long NFL career, Johnson accumulated more than 11,000 scrimmage yards and absorbed countless hits to the head. While playing in the NFL does not automatically lead to conditions like ALS or CTE, repeated head trauma has increasingly been linked to several diagnoses among former players.