BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

Gay NFL Veteran Esera Tuaolo: “I Did Not Feel Safe At All In The Locker Room”

Esera TuaoloWith NFL draft hopeful Michael Sam in the running to become the first out athlete in major league sports, discussion has switched from the inevitable “When will we have our first gay football player?” to the more concerning “How will they be treated in the locker room?”

Popular opinion may be changing in favor of LGBT athletes, but today’s news of homophobia and racism in the Miami Dolphins locker room sheds light on the brutal reality that LGBT players may not feel welcome in the NFL.

Earlier this week, openly gay retired NFL star Esera Tuaolo dropped by HuffPo Live, where he spoke candidly on the subject. “I did not feel safe at all [in the locker room],” he said. “It was so hard…being in that masculine environment. The secret killed me.”

More from Tuaolo in the interview below. Make sure to pick up his book, Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL:

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