Dan Le Batard called out Michael Strahan for not asking any football-centric questions during his interview with ex-NFL star Chris Johnson, who revealed during “Good Morning America” on Monday that he’s been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“Michael Strahan has a responsibility in that instance to ask some sort of football-related question, and he did not do it, and he came under no criticism from anybody except (journalist) Jeff Pearlman because we don’t actually want to know” Le Batard said on his self-named show Tuesday.
“We don’t. It’s just too uncomfortable. You just can’t enjoy that thing the way you do … you don’t actually want to know what it is when these guys are limping through their retirement homes to an early death.”
“Good Morning America” published Monday a nearly seven-minute interview with Johnson, the former Titans star who rushed for 2,006 — seventh-most in NFL history — in 2009.
Some of the questions Strahan asked Johnson included: “What would you like people to know?”; “Why do you want to share this now?”; and “When did you notice something was off?”
The segment also included a discussion with a doctor.
It’s certainly possible that Strahan asked questions about football that landed on the cutting room floor, although there’s a moment when Johnson’s, wife, Brittany said of her first noticing something amiss last year: “I thought because football and his career it had to be something with that.”
Le Batard introduced his opinion by referencing Perlman, a veteran sports reporter, previously citing a study stating NFL players are four times more likely to be diagnosed with ALS than those who do not and the longer one plays the more likely they are to be stricken with the disease.
Pearlman said Strahan should have asked Johnson if he regretted playing football and if he could it all over, would he still play after being diagnosed with the ALS.
Le Batard called that “reasonable criticism” of the interview.
His crew discussed Strahan’s interview and whether he technically qualifies as a journalist, meaning the Giants legend isn’t one that viewers should expect to ask certain types of questions.
“To be critical of not asking what, to me, is the elephant in the room question because the only reason Chris Johnson is on there is not because he has the disease, it’s because he played football,” Le Batard said. “They’re not interviewing random people with ALS, they’re interviewing this person. To neglect that question is an omission that I don’t know why the omission is there, and I’m curious.”
Le Batard harped on the logic behind asking whether Johnson would still have played football knowing what he knows now, drawing off prior conversations with ex-NFLers.
“Almost every football player I have ever talked to, no matter their condition, says they would do it all over again,” Le Batard said. “But I’m always asking before the nursing home. I’m always asking before the end.
“I’d be genuinely curious what Chris Johnson’s answer to that question is given the horrors of that particular disease at his age because it’s not supposed to be at the end when you’re as young as Chris Johnson is, and it doesn’t get any better from here, there’s not a cure, it’s only going to get worse from here.”
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, and there is no cure for the fatal disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Johnson spoke through a speech generator in the interview.
The 40-year-old played for three teams in his 10-year career spanning 2008-17, notably earning the “CJ2K” nickname for his historic season with the Titans 17 years ago.
He rushed for 9,561 yards and 55 rushing scores in his career.
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