The best and brightest in sports and entertainment gathered in Los Angeles last Thursday for the 2024 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, or ESPY, Awards. This annual event has been held by ESPN since 1993 and has become one of the most glamorous and highly anticipated yearly awards shows.
Along with awards for Best Athlete, Best Play, and Best Team, ESPY Awards are also awarded to those who display exemplary courage, leadership, service, and resilience. These awards include the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award, The Pat Tillman Award for Service, and the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.
This year’s honoree for the Arthur Ashe Award, Steve Gleason, exemplifies everything this award stands for. He has shown boundless courage and strength through tremendous adversity, improving not only his own life but the lives of thousands of others.
Steve Gleason’s Career with the New Orleans Saints
https://gty.im/610587804
Steve Gleason played for the New Orleans Saints from 2000-2006, both as a safety and on special teams. He played in 83 games and recorded 64 solo and 71 combined tackles. As a player, he is best known for a critical punt block in 2006 that helped secure a crucial division win against the Atlanta Falcons. It was the first home game for the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina, and Gleason’s punt block and the ensuing touchdown turned the tide of the game.
The Saints went all the way to the NFC Championship that year, only to be kept out of the Super Bowl by what was probably the worst missed call in NFL history. New Orleans was galvanized by the success of the Saints in 2006, and the city came back together after the tremendous hardship and tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Gleason’s famous punt block is now immortalized outside the Superdome as a nine-foot-tall bronze statue entitled “Rebirth”.
Gleason Diagnosed with ALS in 2011
In January 2011, Steve Gleason was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which is a degenerative neurological disorder that progressively reduces or eliminates a person’s ability to walk, speak, and even breathe. Shortly after his diagnosis, Gleason started a video diary for his unborn son that would later become the highly awarded documentary, “Gleason”.
Though Steve Gleason’s condition has degenerated over the years, he still can communicate through eye tracking, speech synthesis, and other technologies. He has been instrumental in improving these technologies as well as improving access for other ALS patients.
Gleason Pioneers Improvements for ALS Patients
His foundation, Team Gleason, has worked with Microsoft and numerous other organizations to improve eye tracking and integrate it into personal computers. Team Gleason’s collaboration with Microsoft led to eye-tracking technology being included as an input device on Windows 10 computers.
Gleason also paved the way for other ALS patients in terms of accessibility to care. His efforts in Washington, D.C. led to the passage of the Steve Gleason Act, which expanded Medicare and Medicaid coverage for ALS-related technology including eye-tracking hardware and software, speech synthesis, and mobility technology.
On January 15, 2020, Steve Gleason was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his tireless work in support of fellow ALS patients. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor Congress can bestow upon a civilian and it requires approval by both chambers of Congress, as well as the President.
Gleason Honored with Arthur Ashe Award
For his continuing efforts to improve the lives of ALS patients everywhere, Gleason was honored with the 2024 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. According to ESPN:
The Ashe Award is one of the most prestigious in sports. Recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost. The award is inspired by the life that Ashe lived, using his fame and stature to advocate for human rights, although, at the time, those positions may have been unpopular and were often controversial.
There is no one more deserving of this award than Steve Gleason. He has overcome unimaginable hardship, not only surviving with ALS but pioneering new technology and passing legislation that has significantly improved the lives of ALS patients all over the world. To learn more about Team Gleason and the work they do, please click here.
For More Great Content
Check out all the great content Total Apex Sports has to offer. Check us out on X @TotalApexSports and our other sites: Total Apex Sports Bets and Total Apex Fantasy Sports. Follow Andrew Lazzara on X @Andrew_Lazzara and to see more of his work, click here.
