A Wheelchair-Bound NFL Player Uses A Microsoft Surface Tablet To Talk And Move

Some time ago, we brought you the inspiring, tear jerker story of how Google Glass helped a woman regain her confidence and go camping again. A car accident on her way to her previous camping trip left her paralyzed from the chest down.

New technology can be fun and interesting. It can also play a powerful role in the quality of life for those with serious health issues.

In honor of Super Bowl weekend, we bring you another such story, about NFL football player Steve Gleason.

Gleason only started one game in his 7-year NFL career with the New Orleans Saints. But he'll forever be known for a play that led to the Saints' first touchdown in the their first game back at the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina.

Three years after he left the NFL, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that hits former NFL players at a higher rate and at younger ages.

It impedes his ability to walk and talk.

Gleason uses eye-tracking technology on a Microsoft Surface tablet to type out words and the machine speaks speaks for him. It also lets him control his electric wheel chair.

"I am hopeful for a medical cure for ALS." Gleason says in the video posted below. "Until there is one, technology is my cure."