Gay History Month: Esera Tuaolo
Esera Tuaolo is a former NFL defensive lineman from Honolulu, Hawaii.
During his career he played for the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings.
After retiring in 1999, Tuaolo revealed to the public that he is gay, during a 2002 scene of HBO’s Real Sports.
In 2006, he published a book about it titled, Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL.
Since then, he has been working to decrease homophobia in the NFL by serving as a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.
Tuaolo is the third NFL player in history to publicly announce that he is gay.
I still wait for the day that an active player in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL comes out of the closet. And it doesn’t matter if they’re a starter, anyone would be a fresh start.