New Orleans Saints

Steve Gleason and his wife are expecting their second child

By Advocate staff
Former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason watches the boat race as his son, Rivers, moves his arms inside gloves next to Gleason’s wife, Michel Gleason, at a preseason game. The Gleasons are expecting a second child in October.
Former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason watches the boat race as his son, Rivers, moves his arms inside gloves next to Gleason’s wife, Michel Gleason, at a preseason game. The Gleasons are expecting a second child in October. Matthew Hinton Advocate staff photo

Steve Gleason and his family will soon welcome a new member to their team.

Michel Varisco, a New Orleanian and the wife of former New Orleans Saints special teams ace Steve Gleason, is pregnant with the family’s second child, Team Gleason spokeswoman Clare Durrett confirmed in a text message to The Advocate.

The baby is due in October, Durrett said.

The couple has one son, Rivers, who is 6 years old.

Steve Gleason, 41, has become a continuum of inspiration after he was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. He began waging a very public fight to maintain the highest possible degree of quality of life despite the disease, which has no cure, through his foundation “Team Gleason.”

After being diagnosed, with the support of friends and family, he created the foundation to create public awareness of ALS with its “No White Flags” symbol.

In 2013, Team Gleason played host to the “Summit for a Cure” in New Orleans where scientists, people living with ALS and their loved ones, advocates and others came together to establish a road map for new treatments.

A year later, Team Gleason received donations from more than 18,000 people and raised more than $1 million during the Ice Bucket Challenge. The foundation has continued to raise money in the years since.

A post shared by Michel R Varisco (@mvarisco) on

Also in 2014, the Team Gleason House for Innovative Living, a residential facility designed to help people with ALS live more independently, was opened at St. Margaret’s Skilled Nursing Residence in New Orleans.

The Steve Gleason Act passed in 2015 by a unanimous vote in Congress. When its funding was about to run out this year, it gained unanimous re-approval.

Steve Gleason is best known for blocking a punt against the Atlanta Falcons in the team’s first game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina in 2006. He was recently inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on June 30.

The Gleasons have remained active and visible in the city and are routinely seen at sporting and events. Gleason Gras, an annual fundraiser that’s grown in popularity, will be Sept. 7 in Champions Square.

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