The 4x Higher ALS Risk For Football Players And Why Nobody In The League Is Ready For It

Alright, Seattle, listen up. We all bleed green and blue, right? We live and die by every snap, every pitch. But sometimes, there’s stuff happening off the field that just hits different. Former NFL running back Chris Johnson just went public with his ALS diagnosis, and while he didn’t even focus on the link between his disease and football, we HAVE to. Because let me tell you, that connection is not just established, it’s terrifying.

The Numbers Are Screaming at Us, Folks.

You know how serious this stuff is, but maybe you didn’t realize the league itself has had to acknowledge it. We’re talking about a connection so clear that ALS is literally one of the conditions, along with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and early and moderate dementia, that automatically qualifies retired players for no-questions-asked cash from the NFL’s massive unlimited concussion settlement fund. That’s been the deal since July 7, 2014, for real. They knew. And if that doesn’t hit hard enough, a 2021 study looked at over 19,000 NFL athletes, every single one who debuted between 1960 and 2019 and played even just one pro game. What did they find? The risk of developing ALS was nearly four times as high as that of the general population. FOUR TIMES! Are you kidding me? This isn’t some theory, this is science

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yelling in our faces.

Why Are We Still Whispering About This?

So, Johnson makes this huge, brave move to share his diagnosis on Good Morning America. And what happens? The segment, get this, didn’t even mention the ties between ALS and football. Awkward doesn't even begin to cover it, right? It came close when Johnson’s wife, Brittany, said she thought his initial symptoms, like weakness in his right hand, might’ve been from a pinched nerve from playing football. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s like the elephant in the room that everyone politely avoids, even when the person living it, and his family, are practically pointing at it. We’re out here at Lumen Field cheering on Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, pouring our hearts out, and the game we love, the game these athletes sacrifice everything for, has this dark shadow hanging over it. We owe it to these guys to not just cheer, but to demand answers and transparency. This isn't about a win or a loss, or where we sit in the standings. This is about the lives of the warriors who give us those moments. When we’re watching our Seahawks battle it out, or our Mariners crushing it at T-Mobile Park, we gotta remember the cost. This isn’t going away. It's a conversation that needs to be loud, not quiet. And if the league isn't ready for it, well, we fans in the Emerald City definitely are. We're ready to make some noise about it.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.