Steve Gleason has long been one of my biggest heroes.
And my love and admiration for the man is stronger than ever after watching him accept the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during Thursday night’s ESPYs.
I was there in the New Orleans Superdome on Sept. 25, 2006, when Gleason cemented himself in Who Dat history as his early punt led the Saints to a rout of the Atlanta Falcons before a raucous crowd back for the Saints first regular-season home game in the ‘Dome since 2004.
But Gleason was a favorite and even hero of mine well before that.
Gleason was not an outstanding safety for the Saints, but he was good enough to earn a spot as a reserve in New Orleans’s defensive backfield because of his outstanding special teams play.
But it’s what he had done for the city of New Orleans long before that play that had already made him a Crescent City hero.
Gleason, who joined the Saints in 2000 as a rookie out of Washington State, quickly proved he had nothing but love for the “City That Care Forgot.”
Because Gleason quickly proved just that with the work, he did out in the community well before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans.
There’s a statue of Gleason outside of the Superdome depicting him making that historic punt block, complete with his long hair flowing outside of his helmet, flowing down his back.
But many people might not realize that Gleason’s hair “ebbed and flowed” during his days as a Saints’ player, because he would grow it out long and then cut it off to donate to New Orleans’ Locks of Love Foundation and then start the process all over again.
And it was his community work that made him a beloved figure in New Orleans long before that historic punt block against the Falcons.
Future Hall of Famer Drew Brees presented Gleason during the ESPYs, and the love for his former Saints teammate was obvious from the start.
“When I think about Steve as a teammate, and a friend, I think of a guy who has always taken the idea of living to the next level,” Brees said. “Steve has always been interested in having a deeper conversation, going on a bigger adventure, finding ways to experience the wonders of the world in every possible way. Always curious to explore both the seen, and the unseen of human emotion and connection.
“That’s what made it so devastating when Steve was diagnosed with ALS, a disease with a terminal diagnosis that leaves you a prisoner in your own body. But if you know anything about Steve, you know he has always been determined to write his own story and live to be 109. Through it all, he has never given in, never stopped fighting, No White Flags. And never stopped finding ways to inspire, impact and write his own story.”
When Gleason was diagnosed with ALS in 2011, he was given a life expectancy of three years at most.
Thirteen years later Gleason is still making impacts on lives all over the world because of his work spreading awareness about the disease, even though he years ago lost his ability to speak and now uses Stephen Hawking-like technology to communicate and breathes with the help of a ventilator.
During a video shown during Gleason acceptance of the Ashe Award Thursday night, Gleason’s wife said the disease is starting to affect his eye muscles, which he uses to communicate.
I’m not ashamed to admit to sobbing out loud to hear that news.
But I am so glad that he was able to receive the Ashe Award in person on Thursday. I will never forget Jim Valvano’s speech during the first ESPY Awards in 1993.
I cried then, just as I did Thursday night.
They were tears of love and admiration.
I remember seeing my uncle George “Buddy” Boatright, who was born and raised in Farmerville, as he was dying of ALS in the early 1970s. I knew what a horrible disease long before Gleason was diagnosed.
But the way Gleason has battled the disease the last 13 years has made him more of a hero of mine than ever before.
Brees agrees.
“He’s such a beacon of hope,” Brees said during Thursday’s ceremony. “He’s such a light in this world. (Gleason said) I’m going to take this death sentence, as some would say, and I’m going to find a way to make the rest of my life even greater and even more purposeful than the first part of my life.”
