and immediately I was like--

I wanted to meet you both.

And just my heart is breaking for you

and just wanted to tell you how much I love you.

And let's start at the beginning.

So where did you all meet?

We met in college.

So I played soccer and Eric played football,

and we kind of knew each other through mutual friends.

And one day, we were walking down the street,

and I stopped him and gave him a hug.

I barely knew him, but I was like, oh, my gosh,

and I gave him a hug.

Why'd you give him a hug?

I don't know.

He's just so cute.

[LAUGHTER]

Well, yeah, I know, but usually that doesn't happen.

[LAUGHTER]

Yeah.

And you were a football player?

Yeah.

And you played for the Rams?

I did.

I played for the Rams for one year.

And then after that, I always knew

I wanted to be a firefighter.

So I knew I wasn't going to play football my whole life.

I love firefighters.

You know that, right?

I love firefighters.

I just think that firefighters are just amazing heroes

to be running towards the danger to protect all of us.

So thank you for that.

[APPLAUSE]

And how long did you all date before you got married?

Eight years.

Eight years.

OK, so you're planning the wedding,

and you start feeling some symptoms.

What was happening?

Yeah, I started feeling my left hand start slowing down.

It was getting kind of weak, and I was dropping the tools.

And when I'd workout, like holding a dumbbell

or something, it would slip from my hand, or--

I didn't really think much of it.

I just thought maybe it was an old football

injury or something.

Just kind of kept putting it off.

And we had our wedding that we were playing for,

so I didn't want to stress anyone out.

So then you get married.

And then after you got married, it just intensified?

Yeah, so it just kind of slowly progressed, slowly

kept getting worse.

My brothers, my dad, Amanda, they

noticed my speech was starting to slow down too.

I was slurring words and just getting

really tired and fatigued.

And I started googling--

of course, we go on Google and try to see what we have.

And I just kept checking all these boxes.

I'm like, man, this is crazy.

ALS keeps popping up, and there's just no way.

I'm in the best shape of my life, about to get married,

and it's like everything's--

I feel like I'm on top of the world.

And it just kept coming.

And I'm like, man, this is crazy.

And I was in denial for sure.

And after the honeymoon--

or actually, during the honeymoon,

I was getting this crazy twitching,

and they're getting worse and worse.

So I didn't really say anything to Amanda until we got home.

[VOICE BREAKING]

And he said, we need to go to the doctor.

And yeah, so we went and--

[BOTH CRYING]

--it still doesn't feel real when you're there

and they're telling you, this is what you have.

And he's 29, healthy, we just got married.

So yeah, it was very hard.

It doesn't seem fair or real or anything like this.

It's just-- I don't even have words.

I'm just so sorry that to just be getting married and starting

out, wanting to have a family.

So I want to show my support because you have #AXE ALS.

And I wanted to take a really cool picture with #AXE ALS,

so I called your fire station.

So they're here.

Come on out.

[MUSIC - U2, "BEAUTIFUL DAY"]

(SINGING) It's a beautiful day.

[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

(SINGING) You know you can feel it.

It's a beautiful day.

But you've got no destination.

You're in the mud, in the maze of her imagination.

You're lovin' this town, even if that doesn't ring true.

You've been all over.

We'll be right back.

We're with back with Amanda and Eric Stevens

and the firefighters from Fire Station 21.

And I know these guys have something that they

want to say, first of all.

You all need to know that since I first met Eric

a number of years ago, he has always been the strongest

guy in the room, hands down.

And you have been hit by one of the biggest blows

that life can throw at you.

And the way that you have chosen to respond, with your strength,

your courage, your fight, is proving just once again

that you are remaining the strongest guy in the room.

[APPLAUSE]

We want you to know you are not alone in this.

Even though you're not showing up

to the firehouse for work shifts,

you are still a key, key part of this crew.

And we will always be your crew.

And we are committed to walking with you

every step of this journey.

[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

I love you, dude.

I love you.

I love you guys.

[SIGHS] Well, I feel the same way.

I just said during the break, I want

to be there to help you in any way I can as well.

And ALS is very expensive.

The bills are piling up--

I know that.

And you were saving to buy a home and start a family,

and all this is going to the medical bills.

So I wanted to help, and the Unlimited Cash Back Account

from Green Dot Bank is all about putting cash back

in your pocket to help you save.

So they're going to get you started with $50,000.

[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

Thank you very much.

(CRYING) Thank you so much.

My pleasure.

You can go to our website to find out how you can help.

And let's all post these #AXE ALS.

Let's get that started.

I want to thank Matt Damon.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Be kind to one another.

Bye.

Hi, I'm Andy.

Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel

so you can see more awesome videos,

like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,

like ball peen hammer, and also some videos of Ellen

and other celebrities, if you're into that sort of thing.

Ah!

[SCREAMS] [BLEEP] God!

[BLEEP]