The Tennessee Titans will induct former All-Pro running back Chris Johnson into the team’s Ring of Honor.
The ceremony is planned for halftime of the Titans’ 2026 season opener on Sept. 13. The Titans will host the New York Jets, for whom Johnson played one season.
The Titans selected Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. During his six-season, 95-game tenure in Nashville, Johnson gained 7,965 rushing yards and scored 58 touchdowns.
He was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Pro in 2009, when he ran for 2,006 yards and set an NFL single-season record with his 2,509 yards from scrimmage. That record continues to stand despite the NFL expanding its schedule to 17 games.
“Chris Johnson holds a special place in the hearts of our organization and our fans,” Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. “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.”
He rushed for 9,651 yards and 55 touchdowns in 130 career games with the Titans (2008-13), Jets (2014) and Arizona Cardinals (2015-17). He rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his six seasons in a Titans uniform.
In an interview aired June 29 on “Good Morning America,” Johnson told co-anchor Michael Strahan that he was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2025. There is currently no cure.
“There’s no history of ALS in my family,” said Johnson, who was using a speech-generating device based on recordings of his voice to speak. “My doctors believe my case is what’s called sporadic ALS, which is actually how the vast majority of ALS cases happen.
“… That’s one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking. It can happen to someone who never expected it.”
Johnson, 40, will become the 20th inductee into Tennessee’s Ring of Honor, with the late Dave McGinnis, a former assistant coach and radio analyst, to be added later in the season.
The group includes players from the Titans’ history as the Houston Oilers. Among those already in the Ring of Honor are quarterbacks George Blanda, Warren Moon and Steve McNair, as well as running backs Earl Campbell and Eddie George.
–Field Level Media
