(CNN) Former New Orleans Saints safety Steve Gleason is being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday for his work with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease he was diagnosed with in 2011.

In receiving the award, Gleason joins previous athletes who've been honored, including baseball Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson; boxer Joe Louis; track star Jesse Owens; and golfers Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

"Talk about feeling undeserving!" Gleason, 42, said in a statement. "The list of past winners is filled with enlightened and powerful giants of humanity. It's ridiculously overwhelming. I am honored and accept the Congressional Gold Medal for all the families who have been diagnosed with ALS, as well as anyone struggling to overcome life's inevitable adversities."

Gleason will get the medal during a ceremony in Washington. Other recipients of the award since it its inception in 1776 include Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope John Paul II and the Navajo Code Talkers, congressional records show.

His blocked punt became a Katrina recovery symbol