Michael Strahan Claps Back At Critics After Backlash Over Chris Johnson ALS Interview
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Michael Strahan is standing by the way he handled one of the most talked-about interviews of the year. Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show this week, the longtime broadcaster addressed weeks of criticism over his Good Morning America sit-down with former Titans running back Chris Johnson, who revealed his ALS diagnosis live on air.
Patrick asked Strahan directly whether he wished he’d pressed Johnson on football’s connection to the disease, and Strahan used the moment to explain his thinking at length.
“Well, I had that — I actually thought about that, because I saw what every[one said], ‘Well you should have asked this, you should have asked that.’ Well, you should have got the interview. How about that?” Strahan said. “That’s one thing.”
Michael Strahan Defends His Handling of the Interview
According to Strahan, the moment belonged to Johnson, not to him. He said his job as an interviewer is simply to deliver information, not to grandstand for a bigger headline.
“Two,” Strahan told Patrick, “two, that was Chris’s moment for Chris to share the story which Chris wanted to share. And when I got the call that Chris wanted to share that he has, you know, ALS, that was the story. It wasn’t for me to try to grandstand, which — I hate when people do this, Dan. As an interviewer, our job is [to] deliver information. I’m not trying to get a bigger name for myself by putting somebody else in an uncomfortable position. I was there as a service to Chris, for what Chris wanted people to understand and know about his life and where he was now. I was not there to make a story about myself or to get a big headline — that’s what it wasn’t about. The headlines were about Chris is where they needed to be.
“I did ask Chris about football, how the NFL has been supportive and all those things. He has twin boys who play football right now. So there are so many things that people don’t know but a few were critical of, but overall I’m very proud of what we did there at ABC in bringing that story. And I’m very proud and very happy that Chris trusted us to tell it. Because that was Chris’s story to tell. The headline’s about Chris Johnson, not about Michael Strahan. I don’t make any of these things about myself. And that was the disappointing thing for a few people who were critical of that. But if you don’t have critics that means you’re not doing a good job, too.”
Still, plenty of observers think the gap in questioning was hard to ignore. Two obvious follow-ups never came up: whether Johnson believes football caused his ALS, and whether he’d let his sons keep playing knowing what he now knows. Those questions feel unavoidable given research linking football and ALS, a connection neurologists have studied for years and one the NFL’s own concussion settlement fund already recognizes.
The criticism towards Strahan only grew after Johnson’s wife later shared an emotional update about how quickly his condition has progressed, a moment that reignited public conversation around the diagnosis.
Michael Strahan’s Response Doesn’t Satisfy Every Critic
Even ABC’s follow-up coverage skipped the connection, attributing Johnson’s case to “sporadic” ALS without exploring why football players may be more susceptible in the first place. That omission has fueled speculation that the network softened its coverage, especially since the NFL now holds a stake in ESPN, ABC’s sister company.
Strahan insists none of this was about protecting anyone. He maintains the interview always centered on Johnson’s story, not headlines about himself. Whether that explanation satisfies his critics is another matter entirely — for now, the debate over what got left unasked shows no sign of fading, and Johnson’s story continues to draw attention across the football world.
