Chris Johnson's ALS diagnosis and Marshawn Kneeland's CTE case aren't less important than the stories that came before them. They've just become less shocking.
By PAUL KUHARSKY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – We get numb too easily, and it’s just what they want.
Chris Johnson announced he has ALS. He was a big star. A flash of light running back with a remarkable highlight reel, and the Ice Bucket Challenge has re-emerged to a degree, and he’s stirred up emotions and feelings. But it’s hardly gathered the energy it had in the summer of 2014 when Pete Frates helped launch it. The second time around isn’t the same.
Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland killed himself in November 2025 at the age of 24. And we recently learned he has Stage 1 CTE. Of course, it’s not going to be the news story the early cases known were, players like Mike Webster and Junior Seau.
Johnson became a story about Chris Johnson; the football connection never really took off. Jeff Pearlman and Dan LeBetard questioned Michael Strahan’s lack of a football-related question in his interview of the former running back on Good Morning America. But the debate was more about the question being asked than it was about football’s involvement in the ALS.
Think the NFL didn’t love that?
On Park Avenue in New York, where the league is headquartered, they have to like where things stand now. People have accepted CTE and even ALS are part of the game, like pylons and penalties.
That makes me feel a bit sick.
And so I’ve developed a little habit. It’s hardly earth-shattering, but it’s something.
When the Kneeland news came out, I retweeted it.
Let’s not get numb to this. That’s what the NFL is counting on. https://t.co/i6zn7DzGkL
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) July 7, 2026
And it sparked a mini response. A few people said, what can we do – which I’ll get to in a minute. A few others went elsewhere.
Honestly why do we care? Some players get CTE. Some are fine. Dont want it, dont play. Dont like it, dont watch. My god.
— Erik Shockley (@eshock06) July 7, 2026
My reply?
Because we're human beings who don't want to watch other human beings suffer. It's a billion-dollar league that can do more to help prevent it and can do a lot more to help people after their careers.
On Nov. 18, 2025, Dave Ziron of the Nation wrote about the fading media coverage of the issue, and quoted Chris Nowinski, CEO and co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
“It is frustrating that there is less media coverage and investigative reporting on CTE than there was a few years ago,” Nowinski said. “The NFL has strategically built business relationships with media organizations."
His point wasn't that CTE has become less important. It's that we've stopped treating it that way.
The stories of how benefits may not be doled out easily enough get less attention; the Kneeland news gets less attention. The ALS cases are sparse enough.
Whether by strategy, changing media economics or simple public fatigue, the result is the same.
The generation of players most likely to suffer the worst effects will gradually fade away. The next generation may benefit from fewer offseason hits, shorter training camps, Guardian Caps, improved helmets and rules designed to reduce dangerous contact.
Whatever forces are making us pay less attention, let's resist them. These stories aren't less important because they're less new. They're just less novel.
What can we do? Keep talking about it. Keep asking the questions the league doesn’t want to touch. Keep collectively saying, we’re not going to be numb to this; that just because it’s not as new or, sadly, interesting, it’s still a giant deal. If it’s a side effect to a sport we love, well, it’s not one we’ll just accept, saying they knew the risks. The league is filthy rich. It should be investing credibly in research, prevention and long-term care, not mostly public relations.
This is just as scary as it was when we were first learning about it. The only thing that's changed is our attention span.
We can’t be ho-hum because we’re numb.
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