Gleason initially joined the Saints in the middle of the 2000 season, following a standout career at Washington State. In seven seasons, he played in 83 games and excelled on special teams, recording 98 tackles, two fumble recoveries and four blocked punts, to go with 11 defensive tackles. Like Porter, on-the-field, Gleason is respected by the Saints fan base for one of the franchise's biggest plays, a blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown on Sept. 25, 2006 in a 23-3 win over Atlanta in the reopening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. One of the team's most community-minded members of the team, during his playing tenure, admiration for Gleason has only increased during his courageous battle with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Since his initial diagnosis in 2011, Gleason has poured his efforts into his nonprofit "Team Gleason", which supports people living with ALS via technology, equipment and services. Through his efforts with Team Gleason and another locally-based global nonprofit "Answer ALS", which is focused on finding a cure, he has collectively helped raise over $100 million to benefit those battling ALS. Team Gleason has provided over $55 million in technology, equipment, adventure and care services to people living with ALS, while Answer ALS has raised over $45 million towards the scientific quest for a cure.
Gleason has been recognized worldwide for his courage and philanthropy, becoming the first professional football player to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, receiving ESPN's Arthur Ashe Award for Courage and the George Halas Award (Pro Football Writers of America) for his perseverance and dedication.
Events surrounding the induction of Porter and Maxie, and the recognition of Daniels and Gleason will take place on the weekend of December 14, surrounding the Saints-Carolina Panthers game.
**PREVIOUS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES**
1988—Archie Manning and Danny Abramowicz 1989—Tommy Myers and Tom Dempsey 1990—Billy Kilmer 1991—Tony Galbreath and Derland Moore 1992—George Rogers, Jake Kupp and John Hill 1993—Joe Federspiel 1994—Henry Childs and Jim Finks 1995—Doug Atkins and Bob Pollard 1996—Dave Whitsell and Dave Waymer 1997—Stan Brock and Rickey Jackson 1998—Dalton Hilliard and Sam Mills 1999—Bobby Hebert and Eric Martin 2000—Pat Swilling and Vaughan Johnson 2001—Jim Wilks and Hoby Brenner 2002—Jim Mora and Frank Warren 2003—Jim Dombrowski and Wayne Martin 2004—Rueben Mayes and Steve Sidwell \*\*2005—No induction due to Hurricane Katrina 2006—Joel Hilgenberg 2007—Joe Johnson 2008—William Roaf 2009—Morten Andersen 2010—Joe Horn 2011—Sammy Knight 2012—Tom Benson and Deuce McAllister 2013—La'Roi Glover 2014—Aaron Brooks and John Carney 2015—Tyrone Hughes and Michael Lewis 2016—Will Smith 2017—Jonathan Vilma and Carl Nicks 2018—Lance Moore and Pierre Thomas 2019—Reggie Bush and Marques Colston 2020—NO INDUCTEES due to pandemic 2021—Jahri Evans and Roman Harper 2022—Devery Henderson and Fred McAfee 2023—Jabari Greer
2024—Drew Brees
**PREVIOUS JOE GEMELLI FLEUR DE LIS AWARD RECIPIENTS**
1989—Al Hirt 1990—Joe Gemelli (award later named for him) 1991—Dave Dixon 1992—Charlie Kertz 1993—Wayne Mack 1994—Erby Aucoin 1995—Aaron Broussard 1996—Marie Knutson 1997—Angela Hill 1998—Joe Impastato 1999—Frank Wilson 2000—Bob Remy 2001—Peter "Champ" Clark 2002—Dean Kleinschmidt 2003—Jim Fast 2004—Bob Roesler 2005—NO INDUCTEES due to Hurricane Katrina 2006—Buddy Diliberto 2007—New Orleans Saints Fans (Marcy Beter) 2008—Barra Birrcher 2009—Jerry Romig 2010—Dan Simmons and Glennon "Silky" Powell 2011—Bruce Miller 2012—Jim Henderson 2013—Pete Finney 2014—Al Nastasi and Tony Piazza 2015—Doug Thornton 2016—Hokie Gajan 2017—Jay Romig 2018—Michael C. Hebert 2019—Gov. Kathleen Blanco 2020—NO INDUCTEES due to pandemic 2021—Marco Garcia 2022—Kevin Mangum 2023—Steve Paretti and Bob Parkinson
2024—Doug Moreau