NEW ORLEANS — The memory of Steve Gleason's blocked punt against Atlanta in 2006, and the emotional, spine-tingling, ear-splitting, drink-spilling pandemonium that accompanied it, has always been a special and personal one for current Saints linebacker Michael Mauti.
Mauti was a New Orleans-area high school football player and part of the crowd that jammed the Superdome for its reopening after Hurricane Katrina, and he'd celebrated the Saints' victory over the rival Falcons that night.
A decade later, with Gleason watching from the sideline, Mauti blocked a punt against — of all teams — Atlanta, then scooped it up and scored to help the recently reeling Saints rebound with a stunning 31-21 upset of the previously unbeaten Falcons on Thursday night.