Steve Gleason says one play 20 years ago is the reason he survived 15 years of ALS
Most people remember the roar. The man who made it happen remembers something else: that the blocked punt set off a chain that, by his own account, kept him alive once ALS arrived five years later.
Twenty years to the day after the most famous special-teams play in New Orleans history, Steve Gleason sat down with WDSU and said the quiet part about it out loud. On September 25, 2006, in the Saints' first game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, he blocked an Atlanta punt in the opening minutes. On Friday he said that block is the reason he is still alive:
"I say this in my book, that if I didn't block that punt, I'd be dead."
Gleason was diagnosed with ALS in 2011, four years after his last NFL snap. He has now lived with the disease for 15 years, and the way he tells it, the city that adopted him that night is the reason he could. "When the ALS came, this community showed up for us," he told the station, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
The play, and the man who wasn't supposed to be on the field
The detail most people forget: Gleason blocked Michael Koenen's punt, but he didn't score. Curtis DeLoatch did, and Fox 8 reports he was only out there because the unit was one man short and a coach told him to go. He recovered the ball in the end zone, the Saints won 23-3, and the block became the Rebirth statue outside the Superdome.
What Gleason did with the next two decades is the part that outgrew football:
- The film — Gleason, the documentary about his first five years with ALS, premiered at Sundance in 2016.
- The medal — in 2020 he became the first NFL player to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
- The voice — synthetic speech built from recordings of his own voice lets him keep talking as himself.
- The book — A Life Impossible: Living with ALS, published by Knopf in 2024, is where the line about the punt comes from.
What he said about the next 20
He didn't describe the anniversary as a victory lap. He described it as proof of attendance:
"For me, it's a reminder that I'm still here with them. Still a father. Still loving and being loved."
The Saints marked the day by reposting the clip of the block. He also said he is "grateful to be here for whatever comes next."
Previously we wrote: AC/DC's New Jersey rain check lands after the night their tour leg was supposed to end
