What is Steve Gleason?
[[File:MedalCeremony 1 011520 (48 of 69) (49396079471) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Gleason in January 2020]] '''Stephen Michael Gleason''' (born March 19, 1977) is a former [[American football]] player. He played mainly as a [[American_football#Safety .282 points.29|safety]]. He played for the [[Indianapolis Colts]] and the [[New Orleans Saints]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) between 2000 and 2007. He was best known for blocking a punt in 2006, which became a symbol of recovery for [[New Orleans]] after [[Hurricane Katrina]]. In 2019, Gleason was honored with the [[Congressional Gold Medal]]. Gleason was born in [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]. He is married to Michel Rae Varisco. They have two children. In 2011, he was diagnosed with [[Motor neurone disease|amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS), also known as [[Lou Gehrig]]'s disease.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/sports/saints/article_0a5dab2c-d422-11e6-9f78-238a5871097d.html|title='I love my life': Steve Gleason reflects on life with ALS, 6 years after terminal diagnosis|work=The Advocate|date=January 6, 2017|access-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Other websites== * [http://www.teamgleason.org/ TeamGleason.org] {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Steve}} [[Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients]] [[Category:1977 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American football linebackers]] [[Category:American football safeties]] [[Category:Indianapolis Colts players]] [[Category:New Orleans Saints players]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Spokane, Washington]] {{US-bio-stub}}