As a linebacker for the Washington State Cougars and a special teams performer for the New Orleans Saints, Steve Gleason has been involved in numerous plays where he contributed his share of hard hits.
For all of his memorable blows, Gleason’s most noteworthy play wasn’t a hit, but a block, which provided the city of New Orleans an enormous assist to an ongoing recovery from the hardest hit a city could endure.
The story is well-documented. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the southern coast of the United States with New Orleans right in its crosshairs.
That day served as the beginning of what continues to be a tumultuous time for the city. As Katrina approached, the Louisiana Superdome became a shelter for those to ride out the storm. After the storm, it became a symbol of the city’s plight.
But nearly 13 months to the day after Katrina, on Sept. 25, 2006, the Superdome reopened and welcomed back its primary tenant, the Saints, a team that was displaced to San Antonio by the effects of Katrina during the 2005 season.
Over a year of anticipation created an atmosphere in the building equaling that of a Super Bowl and, with the game just minutes old, that atmosphere was ignited by a play that will live on forever in New Orleans history.
“I still walk around New Orleans and people tell me it was the greatest play in the history of the Saints,” Gleason said.
After a three-and-out on their opening possession, the Falcons were forced to punt, but punter Michael Koenen's effort met the outstretched arms of Gleason, who had sprinted untouched through the heart of the Falcons’ line.
The ball bounced into the end zone where the Saints’ Curtis Deloatch fell on it for a touchdown that gave New Orleans a 7-0 lead, but, more importantly, gave the city a chance to cheer again.
“I know it is a cliché but I never heard a stadium that loud, ever, and I know I probably never will,” Gleason said. “Everyone had a strong emotional tie to the game and everyone was cheering for the Saints.”
The cheers weren’t just confined to the Superdome.
Thousands of miles away, in a classroom on the Washington State University campus, Steve Gleason’s mother was listening to the broadcast of the game.
A WSU College of Education doctoral student and graduate assistant, Gail Gleason was giving her undivided attention to her laptop computer . . . not for taking notes but for following the game.
When the blocked punt happened, Gleason could not contain her excitement, and in the process blew her cover.
“I had to explain to everybody that I really wasn’t taking notes,” she said with a laugh.
As important as the play was in giving the Saints an early lead, its significance was felt well beyond the boundaries of the football field.
“There was so much frustration, hardship, anger, sorrow, and so many emotions that had been tied up in that whole hurricane experience; there were so many anticipating being in the dome that night,” Steve Gleason said. “For me to make that play in the beginning of the game was just a way for everyone to let out of all those emotions.”
The blocked punt made Gleason a household name throughout the nation; however, for Cougar fans, Gleason had already been hailed as a fiery, intense, hard-hitting player throughout his career as linebacker for Washington State from 1995-99.
“Steve wanted to be a Cougar,” head coach Mike Price said. “He played hard and was invaluable to team.”
“Gleason was a great leader,” defensive line coach Mike Walker said. “When he spoke, they listened. That’s how tough he was.”
That toughness was epitomized in one play during the 1997 Apple Cup.
Nearing the midpoint of the second quarter, Washington faced a third-and-eight, and Brock Huard lobbed a screen pass to Cam Cleeland, who started running up the field for what would be a 20-yard gain.
Near the end of his run, Gleason, who was outweighed by Cleeland by over 60 pounds, came flying in and nailed the Husky tight end right between the “8” and “5” on his uniform.
Cleeland managed to stagger a few more yards before going down and, though Gleason was woozy from the hit, he was able to jog off the field, Cleeland, however, remained on the turf.
“It was pretty reckless on my part,” Gleason said of his hit. “If there is anytime for recklessness it was a game like that. I probably took the worse of it but I didn’t miss any plays. I still might be feeling that one.
“What I mostly remember coming off the sidelines was thinking I wasn’t going to be able to go another play and I was going to have to take a rest,” continued Gleason, who earned All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention while leading the Cougars with 100 tackles at linebacker during the 1997 season, including nine in the Rose Bowl. “But someone came up to me and said he (Cleeland) is not getting up. As soon as I heard that I was like, ‘Yeah I’m okay,’ so I just walked back on the field.”
After completing his playing career at WSU, Gleason signed with the Saints in 2000 and was with the NFL team up until his retirement earlier this year. Classified as a safety on the Saints roster, Gleason’s greatest impact, as demonstrated by his blocked punt against Atlanta, was on the special teams unit.
With the help of his mother, Gleason’s impact to assist New Orleans’ recovery was not limited to what happened on the playing field.
The devastation Katrina inflicted affected every aspect of the city, including its public school system. To assist with the tens of thousands of school children displaced by the storm, the Gleasons, through Steve’s “One Sweet World Foundation,” partnered with WSU to create “Backpacks for Hope,” an effort that gathered and delivered backpacks with school supplies to the children.
