CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo, who played for five National Football League teams during his nine years as a pro, has given an interview to HBO's Real Sports revealing that he's gay, the pay-cable network revealed Thursday. The episode will debut Tuesday, October 29, and will be repeated into November. A cover story interview with Tuaolo--and with Mitchell Wherley, his life partner of 5-1/2 years--will follow in The Advocate in early November. Tuaolo, a graduate of Oregon State University who grew up in Hawaii and graduated from high school in Chino, Calif., retired from the NFL at the end of the 1999 season. He now lives in Minneapolis, where he settled during his years with the Minnesota Vikings in the mid 1990s. He was a second-round draft pick in 1990 and also played for the Green Bay Packers, the Atlanta Falcons--with whom he went to Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999--and the Carolina Panthers. Tuaolo, 34, told HBO that his retirement was in part a result of the pressures that resulted from being closeted for nine seasons, the New York Post reported Thursday, based on a transcript of the interview. "They didn't know who Esera Tuaolo is," he said. "What they saw was an actor." Other players often told gay jokes in the locker room, he said, and as a result "made me go further and further into depression, further and further into shame." Also an accomplished singer, Tuaolo has sung on two compilation albums featuring NFL players and also has self-released his own CD, One Man's Island. He sang the national anthem on a nationally broadcast NFL game during his rookie year, one of many appearances singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at sporting events, beginning while he was in college. Also interviewed by HBO was ESPN correspondent Sterling Sharpe, who was on the Packers team with Tuaolo. Had his teammate come out while still in the NFL, the Post quotes Sharpe as saying, "he would have been eaten alive, and he would have been hated for it." Tuaolo's partner, Wherley, with whom the ex-footballer is raising 2-year-old twins, will also appear on the HBO program. Tuaolo is only the third NFL player to reveal he's gay. The first was David Kopay, in 1975. Ex-player Roy Simmons also disclosed he was gay, in a 1992 television appearance, although Simmons has since disappeared from public view. Kopay's autobiography, The David Kopay Story, was recently reprinted by Advocate Books. Tuaolo's story, including an exclusive print interview with his life partner, will appear in The Advocate and on Advocate.com beginning November 11.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Here Are the 15 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Cities in the U.S.
November 01 2023 5:09 PM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
30 Steamy Photos of Folsom Street Fair 2023 Debauchery
October 15 2023 11:06 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
60 Burly Pics from Bearrison Street Fair 2022
October 08 2023 8:30 PM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Prince William's aversion to spectacle created one — and might spawn a King Harry
March 22 2024 6:24 PM
Outrage after Oklahoma prosecutor declines charges in Nex Benedict bullying death
March 22 2024 5:21 PM
George Santos leaves Republican Party, will run for House seat as independent
March 22 2024 4:07 PM
Catherine, Princess of Wales, announces she has cancer
March 22 2024 2:57 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedProhibition Wellness & revolutionizing self-care for all
March 22 2024 1:19 PM
Tennessee bill would permit anti-LGBTQ+ foster and adoptee parents
March 22 2024 11:54 AM
Plus
Yahoo Feed8 dating tips for gay men from a gay psychotherapist
March 22 2024 11:51 AM
Trans woman assailed during Kanye West's Rolling Loud set beats back 'bullies' (exclusive)
March 22 2024 11:34 AM