Being gay in the NFL

St. Paul, Minn. — For Esara Tuaolo, it was a long road from a banana farm in Hawaii to Super Bowl XXXIII. That road as an NFL player included stops playing as a Green Bay Packer, a Minnesota Viking, and an Atlanta Falcon in the Super Bowl.

But since his retirement from the NFL, he's taken what's perhaps his most profound step: he's become one of the few professional football players to publicly come out about his homosexuality.

Esara Tuaolo has settled in Minnesota with his partner and two children, and has written a new book about his experiences in football, "Alone in the Trenches -- My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL."

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, 03/30/2006, 6:23 p.m.