Saints legend Steve Gleason – who has spent 15 years battling ALS – was back at the Superdome on Monday night as New Orleans celebrated two decades since its ‘rebirth’ in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Gleason was the hero in September 2006, when – in the Saints’ first game back in the Superdome, against the Atlanta Falcons – he blocked a punt that led to a touchdown. The play, immortalized in statue, is credited with breathing new life into the city.
The Superdome acted as a refuge of last resort for tens of thousands of residents of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left the city underwater.
Nearly 20 years to the day since Gleason’s block, the Saints and Falcons met again at the Superdome and Gleason was given a hero’s welcome back to the stadium where he made his legend.
The 49-year-old was diagnosed with ALS back in 2011. He is now wheelchair bound, breathes through a ventilator, and communicates using his eyes and a special tablet.
On Monday night, alongside his family, Gleason was reunited with Drew Brees and other members of that 2006 team as the Saints celebrated heroes of yesteryear. Above his eyes, tape was decorated with messages about ‘NOLA’ and the Saints.
Steve Gleason – who has spent 15 years battling ALS – was back at the Superdome on Monday
Back in 2006, his blocked punt – in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – turned him into a hero
Gleason is pictured with his family and (L-R) NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno, Saints owner & CEO Gayle Benson, Congressman Troy Carter
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is, according to the ALS Association, ‘a progressive disease in which a person’s brain loses connection with the muscles, slowly taking away their ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe.’
There is currently no cure for the disease but through his foundation, Team Gleason, he has reportedly raised more than $65 million over the past 15 years.
Earlier in the day, Gleason told Good Morning America: ‘When I roll back into that stadium, I will not only be revisiting a monument of 2006, but I will be walking into a mirror — a place that had to learn how to rise… I had to learn the same thing.’
He added: ‘If I do not block that punt, I am another former special teams player, a has-been football guy.
‘When ALS came, I probably fade away quietly and die anonymously. That play made me visible at the exact moment this city needed a symbol. Years later, that visibility became a lifeline. So many people have told us our foundation’s work saved their lives.’
