Stephen Michael Gleason (born March 19, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played as a

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with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

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. Originally signed by the

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as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2000, he played for the Saints through the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

season. As a

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in 2008, Gleason retired from the NFL after eight seasons. Gleason is particularly known for his block of a punt early in a 2006 game, which became a symbol of recovery in

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in the team's first home game after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. In 2011, Gleason revealed that he was battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). His experiences while living with the disease were captured on video over the course of a five-year period and featured in the 2016 documentary '' Gleason''. He was awarded a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

in 2019 and the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2024 for his contributions to ALS awareness.

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, Gleason attended high school at Gonzaga Prep, where he earned consecutive defensive

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awards as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the Greater Spokane League (GSL). He was also a fullback on offense. Gleason then played

for the

. He was a starting linebacker for the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

team that lost in the Rose Bowl. He was a four-year starter for the Cougars baseball team in center field and holds the school record for triples.

Professional career

The

signed Gleason as an

in 2000. He was released by the team after the preseason and was signed to the

' practice squad in November. He was chosen by the Birmingham Thunderbolts with the 191st pick of the 2001 XFL draft. On September 25, 2006, Gleason was responsible for one of the most dramatic and memorable moments in Saints history when he blocked a punt by

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

punter Michael Koenen early in the first quarter of a game at the Superdome. Curtis Deloatch recovered the ball in the Falcons'

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

for a touchdown. It was the first score in the Saints' first game in

in nearly 21 months, during which time

had devastated the city and the team. The Saints won the game and went on to have one of the most successful seasons in their history up to that time, going to the NFC Championship that year.

Personal life

Gleason and his wife, Michel Rae Varisco, have a son, Rivers, and a daughter, Gray. Six weeks after receiving a diagnosis of ALS, the couple discovered they were expecting their first child. Gleason, who lost his voice to ALS, had his voice cloned by

CereProc CereProc ( ) is a speech synthesis company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded in 2005. The company specialises in creating natural and expressive-sounding text to speech voices, synthesis voices with regional accents, and in voice cloning. ...

, a Scottish speech synthesis company. Gleason collaborated with filmmaker Sean Pamphilon to produce a documentary on his battle with ALS that would double as a video journal for his infant son, Rivers. The documentary film '' Gleason'' was shown during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Gleason was featured in an episode of the documentary series '' A Football Life'' that detailed his career in the NFL and battle with ALS.

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aired the episode in late November 2013. In April 2024,

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

released Gleason's memoir ''A Life Impossible: Living with ALS: Finding Peace and Wisdom Within a Fragile Existence.''

Awards and honors

In September 2011, the Saints awarded Gleason a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

. At the same ceremony, he was awarded the key to the city of New Orleans by mayor Mitch Landrieu.
Seattle Times
' – New Orleans Saints present ex-WSU player Steve Gleason with a Super Bowl ring – Associated Press – September 27, 2011 In July 2012, ''Rebirth'', a statue depicting Gleason blocking the punt, was raised outside the Superdome. In 2015, Gleason was chosen to receive the 2015 George Halas Award from the Pro Football Writers Association. He was presented the award at the ''

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'' game between the Saints and Falcons on October 15, 2015. Near the end of the first quarter, he watched as Saints linebacker Michael Mauti blocked a punt by Falcons punter Matt Bosher and returned it for a touchdown to give the Saints a 14–0 lead. Mauti, a New Orleans native and the son of former Saints player Rich Mauti, had attended the 2006 game where Gleason made his famous block. The Saints went on to beat the Falcons, 31–21. After the blocked punt, Gleason tweeted: "Hey, Falcons. #NeverPunt -SG". In 2019, Gleason was awarded with a

for his contributions to ALS awareness, and became the first NFL player to ever receive the award. Gleason was presented with the award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on January 15, 2020. In 2024, he was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for his contributions to ALS awareness.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

TeamGleason.org

Washington State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Steve 1977 births Living people American football linebackers American football safeties Gonzaga Preparatory School alumni Indianapolis Colts players New Orleans Saints players People with motor neuron disease Players of American football from Spokane, Washington Washington State Cougars baseball players Washington State Cougars football players Congressional Gold Medal recipients Baseball players from Spokane, Washington Rhein Fire players