NEW ORLEANS -- Steve Gleason’s family of three is about to grow.
Michel Gleason posted her baby bump on Instagram on July 29, announcing that the Gleasons are expecting a baby girl in October.
“Busted!” Steve tweeted after.
“I have almost zero experience raising a daughter,” Gleason said. “So, that appropriately terrifies me.”
For now, the Gleasons are making memories in Eastern Washington, where Steve grew up. They all attended the Gleason Golf Classic this week in Spokane, a fundraiser for Team Gleason.
6-year-old Rivers was quick to grab the camera when we arrived.
“He’s excited to become a big brother,” Steve said. “No one is more excited about this baby than Rivers. When we told him several months ago he nearly exploded with joy.”
And his Saints family is right there with him.
“Excited and happy for him,” Coach Sean Payton said. “Obviously, they’re very close to our organization -- and fabulous parents.”
“I’m fired up for him,” Saints Punter Thomas Morstead said. “Pretty cool they get a little girl … you love all your kids the same, but it’ll be a cool new experience for Steve.”
The City of New Orleans has been sharing the joys in Gleason’s life since that iconic blocked punt in 2006, during the first game back in the dome after Katrina.
They were also there when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2011.
“New Orleans has really bcome my home,” Steve said. “It’s really the right place for me.”
And after calling New Orleans home for 18 years, he’s excited to raise his daughter here.
“In many ways, I think we live in an era where a girl can grow up to be absolutely successful in any area they choose,” Steve said.
Have a daughter on the way has also made him reflect on what he learned about parenting from his own parents.
“I think both my mom and dad taught me how to be disciplined, how to work hard and hot to be respectful people,” he said.
All things Steve has worked to teach his son and will now pass along to his daughter.
“I know that intelligence, strength and independence from a father will influence and instill those same traits in daughters.”