Posted on 04/19/2005 1:27:46 PM PDT by real saxophonist
Gay football player talks about his life
Jesse Fanciulli
April 19, 2005
Esera Tuaolo isn't the man you might expect.
He weighs 310 pounds, and says he feels light as a feather.
He spent nine years as a defensive lineman in the manly-man world of the National Football League. And he's gay.
Tuaolo spent most of his life trying to be the man everyone expected: The man who laughed at fag jokes in the locker room and bedded women he met at bars.
"I made sure my teammates saw me kissing women and going home with them," Tuaolo told an audience of about 40 people who gathered to hear him speak Monday night at the University of Northern Colorado.
Tuaolo was apparently as good at acting as he was on the field.
None of his teammates with the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers or Atlanta Falcons knew Tuaolo was gay until he came out of the closet in 2002 after retirement.
The revelation cost him friendships with many of his former teammates, but being honest about his sexuality lifted a huge burden from Tuaolo's broad shoulders.
Tuaolo learned early in life that being openly gay was dangerous. He remembers seeing one of his childhood acquaintances throwing rocks at another boy, calling him a fag, queer and homosexual.
That was the day Tuaolo decided to keep his sexuality a secret.
"That's when I started to be an actor," he said at UNC. The decision to hide who he is might have been a wise one from an educational and professional standpoint.
As the youngest child in a poor family of banana farmers in Hawaii, Tuaolo was the first in his family to attend college, thanks to a football scholarship. Later, he would find success as a professional football player.
Tuaolo is convinced that his NFL teammates would have shunned him if he revealed his sexual identity -- so he took great pains to live a secret life.
He said numbed the fear of being discovered as gay with alcohol and was deeply depressed. It was not until after he retired that Tuaolo made the decision to come out. He had adopted two children with his partner Mitchell and wanted his children to know that families came in many combinations, and that it's OK to have two daddies.
"My life now is just beautiful," he said.
Tuaolo is an inspiration for UNC Noah Slauson, 22, who saw the former NFL player on the cover of a gay magazine: "I grew up in an era when I never imagined I could look up to a professional athlete."
Tuaolo spoke at UNC on behalf of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender organization.
Should have seen it coming from a mile away!
Five teams in how many years? No wonder I've never heard of this guy.
I found on Google under "laz".
I prefer to believe that this is NOT Laz, frankly.
Looks like a DUmmie
Oh, man! FUNNY CLIP!!
Seriously, I find his being gay and in a stable relationship far less objectionable than his former practice of bringing anymonous women home for sex-something which is stupid and dangerous regardless of whether it's done by hetero- or homosexuals.
You speak Wisconsinese?
Believe you me, Ill meet cha at da frozen tundra by the bubbler across from the stop and go light any time, hey? Yah sure you betcha Im no leaker, I love Scansin, play sheepshead and drink Point dont cha know. Whereabouts you from, I love hunting geese up by Horicon marsh for cripes sake almighty?
For those who need a Wisconsin Dictionary
ROFL!
bisexual is an oxymoron. It means a pervert who doesn't care which sex he beds as long as his immediate gratification is satisfied. Anyone anywhere anytime.
LOL probably not anymore!!
Hey, that guy in Madison wasn't kidding. I was hoping that my Niners could draft McNown out of UCLA, him being a lefty like Steve Young and all, but when he QB'd the Bears against the Niners at Candlestick a couple years back, I saw something I had never seen before in all my years of watching football: The Bears never crossed the 50 yard line! It was the worst performance I have ever seen from an NFL quarterback!
Bump for Morning Coffee. We've got really slow dial-up and DH is downloading something right now. I'll get back to "youse" tomorrow on dis. ;)
The first sign that something was wrong on the banana farm.
Mom: Where are you going, Esera?
Esera: I'm off to milk the bananas mom.
"banana milker"...gotta remember that one next time I'm adding keywords to a Morford thread.
Doo-doo-doo, da-da-do-do-wow!
There's a place that is magical and full of rain
But now it needs help because it is in pain
Protecting the earth is a mighty big chore
We're spreading awareness like never before!
Getting Gay with Kids is here
To spread the word, and bring you cheer
Lets save the rainforest, whaddaya say?
Being an activist is totally gay.
Someday if we work hard boys and girls..
There'll be nothing but rainforests covering the entire world..
Getting Gay with Kids is here
To spread the word, and bring you cheer
Getting Gay with Kids is here
Lets save the rainforest, it's totally gay
It's totally gay.
Time to break out the Rusy Staub rumors.
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