The game changer for an entire city
There are many statues of sports stars outside their one-time home stadiums. A bronzed Michael Jordan executes a monster dunk in front of the United Center in Chicago; the Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Alabama Crimson Tide has a full huddle of legendary football coaches. Baltimore-born Babe Ruth stands by the Orioles ballpark (even though he actually never played for them). But none elicits a greater emotional response than the statue of New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason blocking a punt by an Atlanta Falcon, outside the Superdome.
The actual play occurred September 25, 2006, at the beginning of a Monday Night NFL game. The match-up against the Falcons marked the Saints’ official return to their stadium, a year after Hurricane Katrina all but shut the city down and sent the Saints to San Antonio, Baton Rouge, and New York City for their 2005 “home” games.
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Address Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive, New Orleans, LA 70112, +1 504.587.3822 | Tip Until the Saints finally won a Super Bowl in 2010, they’d been considered a historically bad team. Since the Superdome is built on land that was once the Girod Cemetery from 1822 to 1957, many felt the team was cursed from their inception in 1967 because they played on haunted burial grounds.
The blocked punt was recovered for a touchdown and set off a roar described as “nothing anyone heard in the Superdome before or since.” Said lifelong fan Christopher Bravender, “Gleason’s play transcends football. Our city was crippled. We needed the Saints and we needed them desperately. We needed the distraction. We needed the inspiration. We needed to feel like we were part of something. That blocked punt literally helped people rebuild their homes. It symbolized being back.”
Gleason was an improbable hero. He was small in size, had limited physical gifts, and was never a full-time starter. He wore his hair long, loved local music, and rode around town on a bicycle. Less a sports star, Gleason seemed more like everyone else in New Orleans.
The permanent portrayal of that fateful play has taken on the name the Rebirth Statue. Steve Gleason himself has said that it represents “coming through adversity. It’s about finding your heroes. It’s about commitment and a rebirth for all.”
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