Thomas Morstead was lost.
From 2009 to 2020, the now-Jets punter was one of the NFL’s best. He had rare job security for a player at his position — 12 seasons with the Saints — and was at the peak of his profession.
Then came a back injury in 2020, a drop in production and eventually a release by New Orleans after those 12 years of service. At 34 years old, Morstead, wondering whether he was finished, couldn’t even get an NFL tryout.
When the Jets signed him to replace an injured Braden Mann early in the 2021 season, it was a career lifeline for Morstead, who punted for them for seven games before Mann returned. Morstead publicly thanked the Jets at the time of his release for the chance “to keep living out my dream.”
This was a time when Morstead, without even seeking it, found solace and inspiration from an old friend — former Saints player Steve Gleason, who famously has been bravely battling ALS for years.
Morstead had gotten to know Gleason in his rookie season and remained close to him. And, while he was facing the first true uncertainty of his NFL career, Morstead found himself quietly inspired by Gleason — without Gleason even knowing it.
“He’s always been kind of a point of perspective and inspiration — specifically about dealing with unwanted circumstances and how you’re going to respond,” Morstead told The Post. “I don’t know that I had ever fully communicated my appreciation to him, how much he’s kind of carried me through some difficult times. And I just personally wanted to do something meaningful for him.”
This is when Morstead hatched an idea to raise money for Team Gleason, which is Gleason’s well-established foundation to raise money for ALS technology and a litany of other activities, such as adventures for those afflicted with ALS to take.
Morstead is donating $1,000 for every punt he drops inside the 20 this season (he did it 36 times last year), and he’s doing a jersey swap with each week’s opposing punter, having the punter sign it and selling those to bidders to raise more money.
Morstead did it in last week’s preseason opener with Washington punter Tress Way, and he will do it in Saturday’s game with Panthers punter Johnny Hekker, whom he called his “nemesis” for making Pro Bowls.
For next week’s preseason finale against the Giants, Morstead will be hosting some families affected by ALS on the sideline as part of the Team Gleason “adventures.”
“It’s a way to encourage people to keep living,” Morstead said.
On a much more trivial level by comparison, Morstead kept his NFL dream alive after the Saints released him, and he was seeking any team to give him a workout.
“I just looked like a washed-up player,” he recalled. “I thought I was done playing, and that was really difficult.”
This is where Gleason’s quiet encouragement inspired Morstead to power on.
“When the opportunity opened up here [with the Jets] after Week 1 of the 2021 season, I think they expected to get an old punter to come work for a few weeks, but then I played really well,” he said.
When Mann was healthy, Morstead was released and bounced from Atlanta to Miami before the Jets signed him back last season. He delivered arguably his best season — a 48.8-yard gross average and 41.7-yard net with those 36 inside the 20.
“He’s a tremendous weapon,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “You could make a claim that he was the MVP of the defense last year for all the times that he pinned people inside the 20-yard line and made people have to go the distance on us. We really believe as a defense, when you’ve got to go the distance, you’re not getting points.”
Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer called it “critical for us to get him back and thank God we did.”
“It’s hard to even say this with as long as he’s played, but he’s getting better all the time,” Boyer said. “I think he’s performing as well as he ever has. I think he’s as good a directional punter as there has been in this league. He’s been an absolute joy to coach. One of my favorite players I’ve ever had.”
Morstead, in the offseason, made a surprise visit to Gleason in New Orleans to tell him about his charity endeavor. He had his visit videotaped. Gleason cried when Morstead told him of his plan.
One of the T-shirts Gleason often wears is from his Team Gleason collection, sold on the foundation’s website. Across the chest, it reads:
“#NeverPunt’’ with his “SG” initials on it.
Gleason was wearing that shirt when Morstead visited, and Morstead playfully took a red marker out and crossed out the word “never” on the shirt.
“I’ve been waiting 10 years to do this,” Morstead told Gleason. “I don’t like your shirt. If people never punted, I wouldn’t have much of a career, and you wouldn’t have a statue outside the Superdome. So we’re going to change it and put a nice red line through it and I’ll even put my own initials here.”
Gleason became a source of inspiration to New Orleans long before his ALS fight. In the first Saints game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of displaced families living inside the stadium for weeks, Gleason blocked a punt for a TD that served as the first score after Katrina.
It was such an iconic play that a statue of Gleason was erected outside the dome.
“This has been like a really redemptive past three years for me, and Steve has been somebody that I look to,” Morstead said. “I’m not somebody that has a ton of bad days, but we all have doubts and vulnerability. And when you see somebody that’s dealing with such different stakes, it’s just a perspective giver.”
Gleason, quietly and unwittingly, helped Morstead emerge from the darkness and find himself. The Jets, and more importantly Morstead, are thankful for that.
