Ex-Packers lineman and LGBTQ+ advocate Esera Tuaolo relieved and proud to see first openly gay active NFL player – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Esera Tuaolo finally has an answer to the biggest question he’s been asked over the past two decades.
“Twenty years of speaking and going out there and educating people on homophobia in sports and the LGBTQ community, the big question has been, ‘When will the first active NFL player come out?’ ” the former Green Bay Packers lineman said. “I can answer that now. June 21.”
That’s when Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib told the world that he was gay, a revelation that will make him the first openly gay active player in the NFL when he suits up in 2021.
More:‘He’s one of us’: NFL players share support for Carl Nassib, want locker room to be welcoming to all
Tuaolo started all 16 games in 1991 for the Packers after he was drafted in the second round out of Oregon State, and he also played for Green Bay in 1992 before playing for four other teams through the 1999 season. He revealed he was gay in 2002 in an interview with HBO’s Real Sports, making him the third former NFL player to come out.
“It’s been a long journey for a lot of us, and just to see someone like Carl come out, and his bravery is amazing to see,” Tuaolo said. “It’s something that we’ve been waiting for for the longest time.”
Tuaolo didn’t expect to wait this long after his 2002 interview, but the shifting public sentiment around LGBTQ+ issues has played into politicians and corporations changing their attitudes.
“We’re moving toward a world of inclusivity, diversity and equality, and if you don’t jump on board, you’ll get left behind,” he said. “You can see that prevalent for a lot of other companies that are out there. Target, now it’s Pride Month and there’s rainbow toothpaste … people are starting to figure out the power of the pink dollar. It’s one of those things bringing the attention that’s much needed. Adding LGBTQ to the diversity programs that we have in companies. This is a topic that won’t be swept under the rug.
“I just love how things are changing now and people are moving forward and finding their voices.”
He added that the strife of 2020 bringing so many together in a quest for equality has helped perception, and social media has given players like Nassib a platform to share their message precisely as they want it conveyed. Tuaolo has been part of the shifting tides as an advocate, giving speeches, appearing in government hearings, appearing on TV shows and writing his autobiography in 2006, “Alone in the Trenches: My Life As a Gay Man in the NFL.”
Nassib, however, provides a new element. Tuaolo said he knows other closeted current NFL players, and he hopes Nassib’s decision will encourage others to follow his lead.
“Now there’s an opportunity for them to get into the locker rooms,” Tuaolo said. “That’s where we need it, to educate the owners, educate the coaches, educate the players. Everyone needs to accept it, because this is the way the future is going. If they are smart and (the NFL takes) this opportunity to sort of build that education within the locker room, within the organization, it’ll be a better place. When you create a safer environment for anyone, it doesn’t matter what crippling secret you have, if you can live your authentic self, it’s a lot better.
“The whole goal is to go to the Super Bowl, that should be the focus of all of it, not who you give your heart to, who you decide to sleep with. It’s funny that we live in a society that sort of cares for people they don’t even know and their bedrooms.”
Still some frustration at NFL’s tepid past support
As part of his announcement, Nassib pledged $100,000 to The Trevor Project, a high-profile nonprofit providing counseling options to suicidal youth in the LGBTQ+ community. The NFL matched with its own $100,000 donation.
Tuaolo said he was delighted to see the league contribute to such a worthwhile organization, but he also admitted some frustration that smaller organizations with similar goals haven’t been given favor by the league over the years. That includes Tuaolo’s own nonprofit, Hate Is Wrong, emphasizing LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports.
“We’ve been trying to get with the NFL to maybe support our organization, which has been fostering diversity and inclusion with the LGBTQ community,” Tuaolo said. “There are other little organizations that we support that no one supports.
“The Trevor Project is an amazing, amazing organization. But … it took a player coming out for them to understand the importance of what we’re trying to do.”
Hate is Wrong has held inclusion parties and panels during Super Bowl week. The next one will take place in Los Angeles.
Finding his own voice has been literal for Tuaolo
Tuaolo has been the executive chef for The Pilgrim House Inn in Provincetown, Massachusetts, for the past four years, and he said he still gets recognized as a contestant on hit NBC singing competition, “The Voice,” from his stint in 2017.
Tuaolo, who famously sang the National Anthem as a player before a game with the Chicago Bears in 1991, returned to Lambeau to sing the anthem before another Packers game in 2014. He also sang at the Packers Christmas holiday party in 2018.
He hasn’t been shy about keeping a public profile. He knows it won’t be as comfortable for every player who comes out.
“I just want (Nassib) to make sure he stays focused on what he needs to do … He’s going to be bombarded by so many things, by so many people, and now he’s the ‘gay player,’ they’re going to be nitpicking everything he does, like they did with Michael Sam,” Tuaolo said, referring to the openly gay University of Missouri star who was drafted in the seventh round and never played in an NFL game. “At the (NFL) Combine, they were sort of nitpicking everything from him instead of seeing his performance on the field, what he brought to the team.”
And even if locker rooms are more accepting than they were when Tuaolo played, it doesn’t make the decision any easier:
“Players don’t want to come out because they don’t want to be labeled.”
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.