Gleason

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1

All right, let's talk a little

bit more about you.

You-- Right there.

That's where you're gonna be in,

like, six weeks.

Um...

My number-one focus of purpose

is to share with you who I am

and to...

give you, uh,

as much of myself

as I possibly can

while I can.

And I'm excited.

I'm excited.

I want you to come

sooner than later

so I can still hold you--

Hold you and--

You in my hands and my arms.

and use all that stuff--

Just--

Just love you.

The 6th of October, 2001.

We're heading down to the

OSU-Washington State game

where the game is sold out.

MAN:
Homecoming.

Homecoming.

Another beautiful day in...

Spokane, Washington.

[CHUCKLES]

Oh, it's a great day.

Cougs are favored by 10.

Steve doesn't like it.

I like it.

Oh, man, it's a beautiful time.

It's a beautiful time

for the Cougs.

MAN 1:

Steve Gleason has what every

college football coach

is looking for in a linebacker.

MAN 2:

Really, really fast.

Really, really aggressive.

MAN 3:

He may be small

but no one can deny

Steve Gleason's ability to hit.

I think that playing football,

you know, is a great time for

every guy to get out there,

you know, and let out your

aggression

and just kind of be

a free spirit.

Cougar football at its best.

Gleason and me. Two legends.

He pass blocks,

you take a step back.

He run blocks,

bam, you're in there.

For the average college

linebacker, he was too small.

And he was way too small

for the NFL to play linebacker.

He had to work harder,

run harder,

train harder,

just so he could be the guy

that was gonna be on

that 53-man roster.

I'd never seen a guy

cover kicks the way he does.

It takes a certain type of

psyche and mindset to do that.

It's actually kind of a crazy,

sort of loose cannon,

"this guy's obviously got

a few screws loose"

type of mindset.

And that's what made him

so good.

I consider Steve a real Kamikaze

of sorts, you know,

notorious for sticking

his head in there,

totally giving up his body,

tough.

Male reporter:

There are reports

from New Orleans

of people trapped

in buildings

that have come down

around them.

The Superdome became a symbol

of failure and despair.

20,000 refugees lived here

for one miserable week

without power, water,

or sanitation.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Female reporter:

A beautiful day,

and an unbelievable scene

here inside

the Louisiana Superdome.

[MEN SHOUTING, CHANTING]

Who are we?

Saints!

Are we ready?

[BARKING]

New Orleans!

[BARKING]

[CROWD CHEERING]

Man:

A moment almost unimaginable

13 months ago is here.

Look out! Right through!

A pickoff by Steve Gleason!

And score!

Touchdown! New Orleans!

And for those people who look

to the New Orleans Saints

as something that will

uplift them, uplift this city,

uplift the entire Gulf Region,

they've just had it!

That night, and specifically

Steve blocking the punt,

was, like, a signal

to everybody that not only

is New Orleans back,

but it just felt like

the rebirth of something

really, really big.

[LAUGHS]

Can you effing believe that?

All right, we need

another performance.

Oh, gee!

Back to back

with the Rio Grande

A Christian woman

in the devil's land

She learned the language

and she learned to fight

But she never learned how

to beat the lonely nights

In Lonesome Dove

Lonesome dove

STEVE:

I want to teach you

how to hold the camera.

Okay.

Yeah?

How's that?

Fine.

Are you there?

I'm here.

You don't like to talk

behind the camera?

I'm a filmer,

I'm not a subject.

Yeah, but a good filmer

asks really good questions

to get really good material.

Are you almost done?

Good question.

When I first got to know him,

he plays--

He had long hair

and played for the NFL.

I thought he was gonna be

a complete cheeseball.

But when I met him,

he was perfect.

I thought he was the greatest

thing I've ever met.

He lived in a small house

and didn't have a TV

and drove a truck and was

different than Southern boys,

and he loved to, like,

adventure travel.

I liked to travel

at the time too.

He was this superhero athlete

but also super smart.

He was the best of both worlds,

let's say.

With the kind of person

that Steve is,

he was attracted to

the free spirit of Michel.

the kind of honest bluntness,

uh, willing to try anything,

really no airs about her.

[CROWD CHEERING]

I don't know, you can never

think of Michel settling down.

She was always the life

of the party.

She was always having fun.

Is Michel really

gonna settle down?

Is Michel gonna have kids?

No way.

That's not gonna happen.

STEVE:

No, you gotta try again.

Watch your hams.

As unique as Steve is,

Michel is equally as unique,

and I think she was still

trying to find herself

and didn't know

where she was going.

And I think when she met Steve,

they just started clicking.

And I think it's such

an amazing thing

that both of you said

to me yesterday.

Even if it's pouring rain,

it doesn't matter.

We have each other.

Our family and friends

are gonna be here.

And isn't that, really?

As all us married people know,

it's how we act,

not when things are great--

It's easy to be loving to each

other when things are great.

But how do we act

as a couple together

when things aren't great?

When things are difficult?

[CHEERING]

Bye!

Now I guess we could say

you're officially

a New Orleanean.

You married a local girl, you

live in a historic neighborhood.

Are you a New Orleanean?

It's a city that I love.

I'm very thankful for all that

has come to me through

this city.

Is it okay with you,

the fact that you're kind of

synonymous for one play?

You played nine years

in the NFL.

You were on the Saints team that

won the first-ever playoff game.

Look, if you gotta pick one

thing that you're gonna

be known for,

that is fine with me.

And before we go,

I wanted Steve to wear

his Number 37 jersey

for this segment.

But he won't put it on.

I wear my jersey on the field.

Those days are done.

So I've been having

some strange medical issues

going on with me recently.

I've been having some

muscle twitching in my arms.

Mostly my upper arms,

shoulders on both sides.

And some in my chest,

in my back,

a little bit in my upper legs.

I then also talked

to my naturopath,

and he seemed a little bit

concerned about it.

He spoke about these types

of symptoms on three levels.

It could be some type

of molecular problem,

or it could be some type

mechanical problem,

meaning my neck or my head

have some type of trauma.

I have a bulging disc

or a ruptured disc

or calcification

in my vertebrae

from all my football trauma.

Thirdly, it could be some

type of neurological disease,

a disease that he mentioned

as--

Obviously the worst-case

scenario would be ALS,

which is Lou Gehrig's disease.

I have been diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,

which is a disease

in the motor neurons.

And this disease is--

Is almost always fatal.

My first reaction was

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