Five Funny Saints Memories - (3) Gleason's Groin Punch

Every day this week, I will post one event that has taken place in recent New Orleans Saints history that the casual football fan may have forgotten about. We, the Saints fans, have not forgotten. Now that we've reached the Super Bowl, however, we can laugh about it.



In December 2004, the Saints entered a game against Carolina with a disappointing record of 4-7. However, a season of frustration came to a peak just before halftime when special teams captain Steve Gleason punched a Panthers player in the groin.

There was really no reason, no explanation, and no benefit to the team. But sometimes in life, you just want to punch another man's groin. At that point in time, all Saints fans everywhere would've loved to punch someone's groin. Steve Gleason represented all of us, and with one strong jab, he did what we all wished we could do.

While we lost that game, the groin punch did inspire the team to end the season on a great 4-game win streak. We missed the playoffs at 8-8, but it at least gave us hope heading into the next season. (That hope was wiped out by Katrina, of course, as Jim Haslett's last Saints team finished 3-13 in 2005.)

But we know this: only a Category 5 Hurricane could kill the momentum of the punch heard around the Dome.