Steve & Michel Gleason: 20 Years After Domecoming and No White Flags

And I think those are the three things that stick out.

Thank you for that.

You know, no white flags has become sort of inseparable from the story.

But after everything that you've experienced and Steve, particularly that phrase, what does that mean to you today? And has the meaning over the last, you know, 20 years changed in any way for you?

Yes, it's meaning has changed.

When I told the world I had ALS in 2011, no white flags was a message of bravado and resistance.

Shortly afterward, the Saints gave me a Super Bowl ring.

I ended my speech by saying, ALS has fucked with the wrong dude.

And, I think the message was appropriate at the time.

We needed the energy.

No white flags became our rallying cry.

We were not going to disappear quietly.

But, 15 years later, I understand that resistance is only one form of courage.

ALS has taken nearly every physical ability from me.

I've had to accept my limitations, the loss of control, and the reality that some circumstances cannot be defeated.

They can only be encountered, accepted, and transformed.

Today, no white flags means unconditional acceptance.

It means taking action when action is possible and when no solution can be found, saying, let it be done.

Acceptance is not a white flag.

Grief is not a white flag.

Asking for help is not a white flag.

Sometimes, surrendering the illusion of control is the most courageous thing we can do.

Rivers and gray embody that evolution for me.

Rivers reminds me to be like water.

Gray reminds me of the freedom and beauty of the middle way.

And I think those are the three things that stick out.

Thank you for that.

You know, no white flags has become sort of inseparable from the story.

But after everything that you've experienced and Steve, particularly that phrase, what does that mean to you today? And has the meaning over the last, you know, 20 years changed in any way for you?

Yes, it's meaning has changed.

When I told the world I had ALS in 2011, no white flags was a message of bravado and resistance.

Shortly afterward, the Saints gave me a Super Bowl ring.

I ended my speech by saying, ALS has fucked with the wrong dude.

And, I think the message was appropriate at the time.

We needed the energy.

No white flags became our rallying cry.

We were not going to disappear quietly.

But, 15 years later, I understand that resistance is only one form of courage.

ALS has taken nearly every physical ability from me.

I've had to accept my limitations, the loss of control, and the reality that some circumstances cannot be defeated.

They can only be encountered, accepted, and transformed.

Today, no white flags means unconditional acceptance.

It means taking action when action is possible and when no solution can be found, saying, let it be done.

Acceptance is not a white flag.

Grief is not a white flag.

Asking for help is not a white flag.

Sometimes, surrendering the illusion of control is the most courageous thing we can do.

Rivers and gray embody that evolution for me.

Rivers reminds me to be like water.

Gray reminds me of the freedom and beauty of the middle way.