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Discussion in 'Carolina Panthers' started by dukeyhaterunc1baby, Oct 24, 2002.

  1. Thursday, October 24

    Tuaolo says he contemplated suicide

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    ESPN.com news services


    The New York Post reported Thursday that Esera Tuaolo, who played nine years in the NFL as a defensive lineman, will reveal he is gay in an interview to be shown Tuesday on HBO's "Real Sports." Tuaolo, who played for five NFL teams, said a major reason for his early retirement in 1999 was the difficulty and frustration that came with keeping his sexual orientation a secret.

    "They didn't know who Esera Tuaolo is," he said in the interview. "What they saw was an actor."

    Tuaolo, 34, said players routinely told gay jokes in the locker room.

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

    In a transcript and tape obtained by The New York Post, Tuaolo discusses the depth of his depression, saying it reached a point to where he thought about suicide.

    "When I'm driving like over a 100 (mph), maybe I could just like turn that wheel, just turn that wheel so I could just end it all," Tuaolo said in the interview.

    Tuaolo, a native of Hawaii, played at Oregon State before being drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1991 (35th pick overall). He also played for the Panthers, Vikings and Jaguars, and for the Falcons for whom he played with in Super Bowl XXXIII.

    The "Real Sports" segment also features ESPN's Sterling Sharpe, a former teammate of Tuaolo's with the Packers.

    When Sharpe was asked what would have happened if Tuaolo came out while he was still playing in the NFL, Sharpe said: "He would have been eaten alive and he would have been hated for it
     
  2. magnus

    magnus Chump-proof

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    Esera was a good player. I liked having him here...any guy with a Samoan name is allright with me.
    Maybe this'll shed a little more light on why it's important that people "come out" when they don't feel like being bothered by what other people's sexuality is. when somebody has to hide who they are, it's important to eventually get that out. I'd have to imagine it'd be terribly frustrating at the least, and at it's greatest very depressing.
     
  3. BigMark

    BigMark Guest

  4. SandMan

    SandMan Guest

    Wonder if he has done Garcia? :confused:
     
  5. McFly41

    McFly41 Guest

    It's too bad he didn't have the balls to come out, then we might have gotten confirmation from Kordell Stewart by now.
     

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