New Orleans Saints cult hero Steve Gleason battling ALS - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com Today is the 5th anniversary of his blocked punt against Atlanta in the first game back in the dome after Katrina. I was there. It was very emotional. Now, five years later Steve Gleason has gone public with his ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) diagnosis. If you were in the Dome today, you saw him honored in a pre-game ceremony...you also saw that he needed guidance to walk on and off the field. Makes you really stop and put things into perspective.....
Here's praying for a miracle... Once again this demonstrates the type of players this management has brought to the organization. They're not satisfied with only athletic ability...they demand quality leadership and class. They surely got it in Gleason!
My cousin said when he heard the news it felt like he had been punched in the stomache. I feel the same way. I love undrafted free agent rookies, and I love special teams aces. Gleason is my all time favorite Saint. In 2003 and 2004 my cousins and I brought a banners to games which read "Gleason is the Reason for the Season" and "Gleason's Gang." In a fit of dorkdom un-matched by pretty much anything a friend of mine and I determined that if the Saints were Jedi, Gleason would have been a prominent Jedi Knight trained by Jedi Master Willie Whitehead. To plagiarize Gale Sayers's speech about Brian Picolo ... "I love Steve Gleason. And tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him too."
