Steve Gleason was the star of the present on Monday as the Saints revisited one of the most celebrated moments in franchise historical past.
The former security led a second line through downtown New Orleans forward of a “Domecoming” celebration marking 20 years after the Saints returned to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Gleason’s blocked punt at the starting of that recreation etched him into NFL lore.
“When I roll back into that stadium, I will not only be visiting a monument to 2006, I will be walking into a mirror, a place that learned how to rise,” Gleason informed “Good Morning America” before the team lost 45-24 to the Falcons on “Monday Night Football.”
“I had to learn the same thing. Twenty years later, I can’t wait to be in the room where that love still lives.”
Former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, backside left, talks with former teammate Curtis Deloatch before an NFL soccer recreation between the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Gleason is, of course, rolling into the stadium rather than strolling. The Saints legend was identified with ALS in 2011 and can not transfer, discuss or breathe on his own. He makes use of his eyes to talk on a pill.
According to the ALS affiliation, only about 10% of individuals with the situation dwell 10 or more years after prognosis. Gleason, 49, has used that additional time to discovered Team Gleason, a charity that has raised over $65 million to support its mission of “improving the lives of people living with ALS and their caregivers,” through know-how, tools and empowerment.
Saints’ Steve Gleason blocks a punt which the Saints ran in for the first rating of an NFL soccer recreation against the Atlanta Falcons, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Sept. 25, 2006. MICHAEL DeMOCKER/The Advocate via AP
“If I do not block that punt, I am another former special teams player, a has-been football guy,” Gleason said. “When the ALS came, I most likely 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.”
A blocked punt in Week 3 wouldn’t usually be remembered for years, but for a metropolis still recovering from a devastating hurricane that killed 1,300 individuals, the play and ensuing landing return — less than two minutes into the recreation — symbolized a “Rebirth,” as the play is recognized by to this day.
Former New Orleans Saints Steve Gleason, left, and Mayor of New Orleans Helena Moreno attend the Rebirth Parade prior to the recreation against the Atlanta Falcons at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. Getty Images
Twenty years later, Gleason acknowledges that the hope he supplied to New Orleans in that second has been returned tenfold over the years.
“The truth I have to live with is this: The same play that helped New Orleans breathe again is a big reason I’m still breathing now,” Gleason said.
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