The Titans made it official: Chris Johnson is going into the franchise's Ring of Honor, and they didn't wait around to pick the date. He'll be enshrined during the halftime ceremony of Tennessee's regular-season opener on September 13 against the Jets, according to Adam Schefter.
Adam Schefter broke the news of the induction date and opponent.
For anyone who watched the AFC South in the late 2000s, this is overdue. Johnson was a first-round pick out of East Carolina in 2008 who turned into one of the most explosive backs the league has ever seen. His 2009 season is the stuff of legend: 2,006 rushing yards, the CJ2K nickname, NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors, and a scrimmage-yards record that broke Marshall Faulk's mark. He's one of just 9 players in NFL history to crack the 2,000-yard rushing threshold in a single season, and he did it while also catching 503 yards through the air.
But the reason this is happening on this timeline, in 2026, isn't just nostalgia. Johnson, now 40, revealed he's been battling ALS, a diagnosis that has reportedly progressed fast enough that he now uses eye-tracking technology to operate a speech-generating device. The Titans moving quickly to honor him isn't a coincidence — it's the organization making sure he's there to see it.
The news landed with fans reacting to the honor with a mix of celebration and emotion.
Johnson spent 6 seasons in Nashville, from 2008 through 2013, racking up 1,000-plus rushing yards in every single one of them and making 3 Pro Bowls before his career took him elsewhere. He eventually came back to retire as a Titan on a ceremonial one-day contract, so the franchise loyalty was always there. What's changed is the urgency behind celebrating it.
There's a layer of symmetry to the Jets being the opponent, too, since Johnson suited up for New York later in his career. But nobody's going to be thinking about box scores that day. This is about getting a franchise legend back in the building, in front of his fans, while he can still feel the ovation.