Gleason Statue
 

2. The strange year of the Saints.
I see them Friday ... and before they practice under interim coach (for games seven through 16, which is part of the weirdness) Joe Vitt late in the afternoon, there will be what should be a stirring ceremony unveiling a bronze Steve Gleason statue on the concourse outside the Superdome. Saints owner Tom Benson, to his credit, commissioned the statue -- which, from what I hear, is a rendition of Gleason blocking an Atlanta punt in the first game at the Superdome post-Katrina -- and wants the eyes of America to be on it when camp opens this week and so many national media members are in town to cover that. Gleason, stricken with ALS, will be on hand, as will many players.


Read more: Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III on my training camp radar - Peter King - SI.com

I just read this in Peter Kings MMQB - Tuesday.
That is really cool of Mr Benson, lots of respect to him.

I hope so, that would say a lot of this team, and our owner. God Bless Steve.
WHO DAT!

Great memory and turning point for the organization, well played.

Way to go Tom!

What a great statue to make and put at the Dome.

That is a night no Saint fan will forever forget.

That play ignited our franchise, gave us the early push which made the players believe.

Gleason deserves all that and so much more, what an amazing guy

Can't wait to see the statue. It's nice to see something positive for a change. I have great admiration for Steve Gleason and love reading his tweets. I think it was a couple of weeks ago he was learning to "tweet" with his eyes....very moving in everything he does.

I love that man! Special..........Truly Special.

I'm proud to say I was in the end zone seating for that game. One of the best nights I can ever remember. The Dome went absolutely nuts-of-epic-proportions at that moment. What a memory!

Teamgleason.org
Please support them if you haven't already. Thank you. ALS is a *****

jeez what the hell kind of acid did Benson take post Katrina. Pre K he was one of the most hated owners in sports, now everything he does seems to be a home run. Talk about a complete 180.

amazing what winning will do for one's reputation.

Classy move by Benson... agree with The Dude, he's really done some nice things in recent memory, a complete turnaround.

It brought a tear to my eye's. Classy move Mr Benson.

The statue of Gleason is another classy move by Tom Benson.
Now, seems to me that pre-Katrina Mr Benson wasn't especially hated, maybe I'm wrong there since I don't live in N.O. He did bring us our first winning teams back in the 80's.
Post-Katrina seemed to be where all the hate came in for him. With his talk of moving the team to San Antonio, Tx. I have no hatred for Mr. Benson, never have. I honestly believe the only reason he did that was to set himself and the Saints up for a good deal in N.O. and get the SD redone. I just hope his sucessor, whether its Rita or whoever commissions 2 more statues. One of Mr. Benson himself to be unveiled opening day, the year after he passes. (Which I hope is a long time from now) and one of Drew to be unveiled at a party outside the SD the day he is inducted into the HOF.

I'm down with that. Both of those men do deserve that. Place them at Champions Square maybe. But Steve, gets his own place.

Ceremony is invitation-only, which sucks. I was hoping to attend with my son.

Saints will unveil “Rebirth” statue on Friday | ProFootballTalk
At a time when so much talk has been devoted to a statue that has gone down, it’s nice to talk about one that has gone up.

On Friday, the Saints privately will unveil their “Rebirth” statue, which captures the moment from September 2006 at which the Saints and New Orleans unofficially returned from a year lost to a hurricane. It’s an invitation-only event, with players and team executives and politicians present for the pulling of the sheet from the sculpture.

One man who can’t attend due to his bounty-related suspension previously has explained what the statue will look like.

“We’re working on, and have a long-term vision of a statue right there in Champions Square of [Steve Gleason] blocking that punt [against the Falcons],” Sean Payton said last year. “And it really represents more than the actual play itself. That play really represents what was the re-opening of the Superdome and the beginning of us kind of picking ourselves back off the mat as a city and getting back to what we know as a normal way of life.”

It was a Monday night moment anyone who experienced it, live or on TV, never will forget. After a rousing pre-game concert featuring U2 and Green Day, the Saints entered the building and then took the field and forced Mike Vick and company to punt and Gleason slid to his left and sprinted through a gaping hole untouched and blocked it and Curtis DeLoach recovered it and the Saints would go on to beat the favored Falcons and when does football start again because I have goosebumps?

I know there will be plenty of pictures of this once it is up. But as for me I want to see some of the Black&Gold members with photos by it. It might be years before I get to see it for myself.

Was living in London when that game happened... stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning to catch the action. I'll never forget sitting there in the dark by myself watching that game on a shoddy Internet feed, silently screaming and fist pumping so as not to wake my roommates.

I now have a panoramic photo of the kickoff of that game hanging in my office. Amazing moment.

My story is kinda the same. I did however wake all my neighbours when that punt was blocked :-D


About a statue for Benson, I wish they would put on up before he passes, I think you should tell people what they did good while they are still around to hear it.

Let me also say well done on your last comment... most people say "talk about a complete 360".

"I don't want this to be about me and that play," Gleason said. "I want it to be about what that play symbolized, which was a commitment by this community to rebuild. This statue is about coming through adversity. It's about finding your heroes. It's about commitment and a rebirth for all."

It's an amazing work of art and gave me goosebumps. #NoWhiteFlags

New Orleans Saints unveil 'Rebirth' statue showing Steve Gleason's blocked punt - New Orleans New Orleans Saints | Examiner.com

My wife and I have the team Gleason t-shirts. I actually have two different ones, and we where them all the time.

We are Team Gleason!