{"id":752821,"date":"2026-07-09T15:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752821\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:50:11","slug":"chris-johnsons-als-revelation-a-reminder-of-grace-needed-for-black-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752821\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Johnson’s ALS revelation a reminder of grace needed for Black athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Johnson<\/a>\u2019s stillness is so powerful that it numbs me. <\/p>\n

His eyes are doing all the talking for him. You have likely heard by now that Johnson, nicknamed \u201cCJ2K\u201d after running for more than 2,000 yards with the Tennessee Titans in 2009, has been diagnosed with ALS. It is a revelation more stunning than his transformation from a college player known mostly as a returner at East Carolina into one of the NFL\u2019s great running backs and home run threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you process it?\u201d interviewer Michael Strahan, awash with survivor\u2019s guilt, asked Johnson on \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t know if you ever fully process it,\u201d Johnson responded. \u201cAt first, you\u2019re in shock, then you realize you have two choices: you can give up, or you can fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back at Johnson\u2019s career, all of the talk about his \u201cdreadlocks,\u201d which will be referenced as loc\u2019d hair from here on out, along with the discussion about the gold teeth he wore, feels trite now.<\/p>\n

They were distractions only to folks who didn\u2019t love the depths of Black folks and who refused to understand that Black Southern culture informed the country. <\/p>\n

As it turned out, the way professional men of great meritocracy chose to style their hair and accessorize their smile didn\u2019t matter. Johnson and his compatriots wore their defiance, for better and occasionally for worse, with the attitudes of the people who influenced them. Not just their mothers and fathers, but the larger-than-life figures in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of a culture thing,\u201d he said in an interview<\/a> with Kyle Odegard in 2015. \u201cWhere I come from, all the people that we looked up to when we were younger, those guys had gold teeth. It\u2019s a thing in our culture, especially down south.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was fitting that a few of Johnson\u2019s NFL brothas promptly responded to the heartbreaking news of his diagnosis with courage and much-needed levity. Marshawn Lynch, himself a target of wayward narratives and stereotypes, rebirthed the viral \u201cIce Bucket Challenge\u201d in the spirit of ALS awareness, along with fellow Florida native Edgerrin James, Adam \u201cPacman\u201d Jones and Vince Young.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand [with you]. And I\u2019m here for you. \u2026 Love and respect,\u201d Lynch said before being doused with ice. Again, the numbness was apparent, then Lynch stood up and shook the ice out of his locs like a brotha from Oakland should.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo start taking care of y\u2019all mentals, y\u2019all bodies, and y\u2019all chicken,\u201d Lynch famously said some years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doctors delivered Johnson that message and his diagnosis in a more abrupt sense, he relayed to Strahan: \u201cGet your affairs in order.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Johnson (right) ran for 2,006 yards in 2009 with the Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n

Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There is a numbness that has not been discussed \u2014 the way we commodify Black athletes to sell goods and convey ideas. <\/p>\n

Strahan faced criticism for not asking Johnson a question that would have been provocative, yet carries a seemingly obvious answer: \u201cDo you regret playing football?\u201d<\/p>\n

Granted, it\u2019s a question that could be asked in good faith and with good reason. Studies have linked the head trauma<\/a> associated with playing football to neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, and research published in October<\/a> suggested \u201creverse causality,\u201d meaning brain and head trauma from playing football might be attributed to \u201csubclinical ALS.\u201d Please read those sentences again, because we should not become numb to that element of uncomfortability.<\/p>\n

But Strahan\u2019s interview was not the place or space for that clinical or critical analysis. His was a space for dignity and humanity, which he managed in spite of his own visible shock and hurt.<\/p>\n

The tell is in the moments with the \u201cGMA\u201d hosts back in the studio after the interview had aired. Strahan, fully immersed in the teleprompter he was reading from, might as well have been thousands of miles away. It took a tearful Robin Roberts to appreciate the gravity of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmire. \u2026 You said you admire him still,\u201d Roberts said before she gave Strahan an affirmative pat on his knee. \u201cGreat job, Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRelated Story<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"'The<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t‘The American Carnival’: Halftime power rankings \u2013 Andscape\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a grace often unafforded to Black athletes and Black men. <\/p>\n

Some years ago, Johnson and Strahan might have met under more brutal terms at the line of scrimmage, but grace allowed for a dialogue that impacted thousands of lives, if not more. This interview doesn\u2019t remove the importance of critical assessment, but reinforces the need for it \u2014 to protect Black children and Black men from the dangers of football.<\/p>\n

The personal decision I\u2019ve made for my two sons (8 and 5 years old) is that they won\u2019t play the sport, but what if they decide as teenagers to pick it up? That will be a tough conversation to have, and I will ultimately support their dreams. <\/p>\n

But again, outside of the framework of Strahan\u2019s interview, that becomes a discussion about age limits for football players, the possible mandate of guardian helmets, and eventually, the financial and healthcare protections for players that extend beyond their professional careers (including college).<\/p>\n

This was Johnson\u2019s moment, and Strahan landed the plane well. We needed to know that Johnson was a loving and present father for his four children \u2014 and still is, as Roberts so eloquently put it. My heart goes out to his wife, Brittany, a proud caretaker showing a strength that a select few can imagine.<\/p>\n

Watching your loved ones get sick or incapacitated is a painful and numbing endeavor. But committing to their dignity and well-being as a caretaker requires a reservoir of strength and power that feels supernatural. <\/p>\n

My maternal aunt and her husband, my uncle, took care of my late grandmother who had Alzheimer\u2019s for more than 20 years. I\u2019ve watched the dignity that Andscape\u2019s own Justin Tinsley has expressed in this medium and others<\/a> about the matriarchs in his family, most recently with<\/a> Anderson Cooper about how his grandmother \u201ctaught me how to grieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRelated Story<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"You\u2019re<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tYou\u2019re always someone\u2019s child\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Many times, there\u2019s grief within the framework of caretaking, but it would be irresponsible to leave this column with such hurt. It\u2019s a culture thing, remember? Our culture has taught us to make a way out of no way, to cling to hope even when your grip isn\u2019t as strong as it used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to know that I\u2019m still me. ALS has changed what my body can do, but it hasn\u2019t changed who I am,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cPeople sometimes look at the physical disability and assume you\u2019re not still the same person inside. I still think the same. I still dream\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken J. Makin is a freelance writer and the host of the Makin\u2019 A Difference podcast. Before and after commentating, he\u2019s thinking about his wife and his sons.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t