Michael Strahan is addressing criticism that has followed him since his interview with former NFL running back Chris Johnson, who used the sit down to reveal his ALS diagnosis. Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show his week, Strahan was asked directly whether he now believes he should have raised the well documented connection between ALS and football during their conversation.
Strahan’s response to critics
Strahan opened his answer somewhat pointedly, suggesting that landing the interview at all should count for something, given how many people questioned his approach after the fact rather than before. He then shifted into a more substantive explanation, framing the segment as something that belonged entirely to Johnson. He said the moment was designed around what Johnson wanted to share about his own life and diagnosis, not an opportunity for Strahan to steer the conversation toward a heavier or more uncomfortable angle.
Why he avoided the harder question
Strahan was firm that his role as an interviewer is to relay information, not to make himself the center of the story by pushing a subject into an uneasy moment on camera. He pointed out that he did touch on football during the conversation, including asking Johnson about the support he has received from the league, and noted that Johnson’s twin sons currently play the sport. He argued that critics were focused on one omission while overlooking the broader context of what the interview covered.
Where the criticism holds up
Even so, the underlying concern from critics remains difficult to dismiss. ALS is automatically covered under the NFL’s concussion settlement fund, a policy shaped by growing research linking the disease to football, including work from Harvard and Boston University’s CTE Center that found increased ALS risk tied to years of NFL exposure.
Asking Johnson directly whether he believes football contributed to his diagnosis, or whether he’d have played knowing what he knows now, would not have amounted to grandstanding. Those are the kinds of questions a serious interview on this subject would be expected to raise, particularly given that Johnson’s own sons are currently playing the sport.
A missed follow up, too
The gap extended beyond the interview itself. In the studio conversation afterward, and in ABC’s separate written recap of the segment, there was reportedly no mention of the established link between ALS and football, even as Strahan’s own framing noted that Johnson’s case fell into the roughly 90% of ALS diagnoses considered sporadic, with no clear cause identified. The silence raises a separate question about ABC’s editorial choices, especially since the NFL holds a stake in ESPN, ABC’s sister network.
Then Strahan disappears from the anchor desk
Just a day after that interview aired on the Dan Patrick show, Strahan was noticeably absent from his usual seat on Good Morning America, with Joe Buck filling in on Tuesday’s broadcast. By Today, Strahan still had not returned, and ABC had not issued any statement explaining the absence, leaving viewers to speculate whether it was tied to the ongoing criticism or simply a scheduling gap.
A likely explanation surfaces
The most plausible answer came from Strahan’s own Instagram, where he shared a photo from Italy along with a caption thanking the country for a great trip and new memories. The timing suggests a vacation rather than anything connected to the interview fallout, though nothing has been confirmed by Strahan or the network directly.
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What comes next
Whether Strahan returns to GMA later this week remains unclear, and so does whether he’ll address the ALS interview criticism again once he’s back behind the desk. For now, both storylines, the defense of his approach with Johnson and his quiet stretch away from the show, are unfolding without any official comment from ABC.
