Steve Gleason is forever linked to New Orleans. As a safety for the New Orleans Saints, his blocked punt in the first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina became one of the most emotionally charged moments in NFL history — a symbol of a city's defiance and recovery.
In January 2011, Gleason was diagnosed with ALS at age 34. He and his wife Michel were expecting their first child.
Rather than retreat, Gleason decided to document his life with ALS on video — a project that became the critically acclaimed documentary Gleason (2016). The film captures his life with unflinching honesty: the physical decline, the joy of fatherhood, the emotional complexity of his marriage, and his extraordinary determination.
He founded Team Gleason, a nonprofit that provides adaptive technology — speech-generating devices, eye-tracking software, power wheelchairs, and more — to people living with ALS. Through congressional advocacy, he was instrumental in passing the Steve Gleason Act in 2015, which secured Medicare coverage for the speech-generating devices that allow many ALS patients to communicate.
Gleason continues to live with ALS and to advocate publicly, communicating through eye-tracking technology. His life is a testament to what is possible with determination, technology, and community support.