STAR-BULLETIN / 1999 Esera Tuaolo: Former Kailua player had a nine-season NFL career

Tuaolo to reveal his
homosexuality on HBO

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From staff and wire reports

NEW YORK >> Esera Tuaolo, a defensive lineman in the NFL for nine years who was born in Honolulu, will reveal in an upcoming HBO show that he is gay.

Tuaolo, who played for five NFL teams, said a major reason for his early retirement in 1999 was the difficulty and frustration inherent in keeping his sexual orientation secret.

"They didn't know who Esera Tuaolo is," he says on a segment of "Real Sports" with Bryant Gumbel, to be aired Tuesday. "What they saw was an actor."

The 34-year-old Tuaolo, who played for Kailua before moving to California to complete his high-school eligibility, said players routinely told gay jokes in the locker room.

"They made me go further and further into depression, further and further into shame. Sometimes, suicidal," he said.

Tuaolo was an all-Pac-10 defensive tackle at Oregon State in 1989 and 1990 and was drafted by the Packers in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft (35th overall). His nine-year career included a trip to the Super Bowl with the 1998 Falcons. He also played for the Vikings, Panthers and Jaguars before retiring in 1999.

In 111 career games (46 starts), he recorded 12 sacks and one interception.

After playing in the Super Bowl, Tuaolo returned to Hawaii to sing the national anthem at the 1999 Pro Bowl. He also made vocal appearances on the albums "NFL Jams," "NFL Country" and "NFL Country II."

Sterling Sharpe, a teammate of Tuaolo with the Packers, also was interviewed on the show. Asked what would have happened had Tuaolo come out while he was still active, Sharpe replied: "He would have been eaten alive and he would have been hated for it."

Only two former NFL players have willingly identified themselves as homosexuals. The most notable was Dave Kopay, a running back with five teams who came out in a 1975 book, three years after retiring from a nine-year career.

Roy Simmons, who played offensive guard for the Redskins and Giants, revealed his orientation in 1992.

Also, two of Kopay's teammates with the Washington Redskins were revealed as gay unwillingly: All-Pro tight end Jerry Smith was outed when he died of AIDS in 1986 and fullback Ray McDonald was arrested in 1968 for having sex with another man in a public park.

After Smith's death, Kopay acknowledged that the two had a relationship while teammates.

Kopay has estimated that between 5 percent and 10 percent of NFL players are homosexuals.