Two decades ago, Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was setting NFL records for most rushing attempts in a single season. But the decades of taking hard hits on the field week in and week out has taken its toll on his body. For the second time in a decade, the RB has spoken up about CTE, and this time, he could find out for certain, with the latest update around testing. 

According to an October 1 report by ESPN’s Stephen Holder, 46-year-old Johnson described a plethora of symptoms he experienced that convinced him of a potential Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE diagnosis.

“My short-term memory was so bad, I could literally go into a store and 30 minutes later come out and not know where my car is parked,” Johnson said. “Or, I’m driving and I just get blanked and I don’t even know where I’m going or know where I’m at.” 

Johnson’s symptoms are not a recent development. The legendary running back first mentioned experiencing symptoms indicative of CTE  back in 2017.

“The other day I tried to open my car with my TV remote, and I don’t even know how I had the TV remote in my hand,” Johnson said during a 2017 interview with the BBC. “The worst symptoms are the forgetfulness and the irritable moods that I go through on a daily basis. It’s hit and miss, I’ll be fine and then 10, 15 minutes later I am sad for some reason, get into a depressed mood, and then can be happy right after that.” 

Cognitive impairment, including memory blanks, impulsive behavior, and mood swings, is often associated with the degenerative disease. Scientists believe CTE is the result of repeated head trauma rather than a single head injury, which is why it is often seen in people engaging in military combat and contact sports. Symptoms can appear years after the relentless trauma NFL players endure.

And in Johnson’s case, all his achievements in the league came from years of playing in the NFL. 

Johnson was picked up by the Chiefs in the first round of the NFL Draft. He earned Pro Bowl selections in 2005 and 2006, and had over 1700 rushing yards both years. In 2006, he set the league’s single-season record with 416 rushing attempts, with an average of 111.8 attempts per game, and 17 touchdowns. Across his seven years with Kansas, the running back recorded 1,526 touches, absorbing a massive number of tackles and hits. 

But those years of intense workload were followed by rapid physical decline. In the last two years of his career, spent with the Washington Redskins and the Miami Dolphins, Johnson played only three games in total, recording just six rushing attempts and four yards.

That decline also forms part of the context behind Johnson’s belief that he may have had CTЕ. Interestingly, there’s a good chance that he could be diagnosed. 

You see, CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death through an examination of brain tissue. According to a 2023 study, 345 of 376 NFL players who underwent brain autopsies were posthumously diagnosed with CTE.

However, Michael Alosco, a neuropsychologist and associate professor at Boston University, known for his research into CTE believes researchers are close to diagnosing the disease while the indivdual is still alive. And that could make a massive difference for players.

Being able to diagnose CTE would help doctors treat the specific symptoms associated with the disease. As Rachel Grashow, a researcher at Harvard University, puts it:

“Many of these conditions cause cognitive symptoms that may overlap with CTE, but the difference here is that they are treatable. And ignoring this reality has dire consequences. We know that having cognitive symptoms and these conditions puts players at a much higher risk for believing they have CTE, and at risk for frequent thoughts of self-harm.” 

For a player like Johnson, who has previously drawn something of a parallel with Aaron Hernandez’s death in prison, a formal CTE diagnosis could change the way he deals with the diseasone. 

In his early NFL career, Johnson was arrested six times between 2003 and 2014 on assault charges. He barely remembered those moments, describing how much worse it was for him.

“In 2010, it had me sitting in a room with a bottle of alcohol, not knowing what day it was or if I wanted to be here. It warps your brain into a reality that’s not your own.

“In that ball of confusion, you search out every toxic component you think is going to help you be a better person; it actually destroys you even more. At that point I was questioning my own mortality because I didn’t know where this had come from,” he further added.

Nevertheless, for now, Johnson has been doing all he can to remember and record precious memories that he wanted to share with his daughter, Jaylen.

“My daughter was born in 2010, and when she was two or three, I still suffered but kept it under control,” Johnson said in 2017. “I don’t want my daughter’s first memories to be of me being a struggling, broken human being with a brain degenerative disorder that can’t learn to love or learn to accept reality.”

He began making time capsules about his football career, filling the blanks in his memory with videos and photographs available on the internet. He also forced himself to rein in the violent impulses he was experiencing, using his daughter as an inspiration. 

Johnson has also been quite vocal about his belief regarding a possible CTE diagnosis and the effect the disease can have on players’ health to create awareness, both among sports medical professionals and league players.