[media-credit name=’ANDREW SCHORR/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

A former National Football League player shared his personal experiences regarding coming out publicly as gay with a crowd at the University of Wisconsin Thursday.

Esera Tuaolo, who played in the NFL for nine seasons on five different teams including the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, spoke at an event hosted by the UW Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender campus center for National Coming Out Week.

Tuaolo said finally divulging his secret to the public on an HBO Sports special in 2002 brought him relief.

“After I said those words for the first time, I felt like this burden had been lifted,” Tuaolo said.

He spoke about his fear of being “found out” while he was playing football professionally.

“Every time I saw myself in the papers, I would be afraid that someone would see me and say, ‘I know that guy. He’s gay,'” Tuaolo said.

He added to be pegged as gay in football would be the demise of any player’s career, saying, “If you want to ruin another player’s career, you just start a rumor that he’s gay.”

Tuaolo only came out after he retired from the NFL.

Cory Schultz, communication specialist for the LGBT campus center, said the center thought Tuaolo would be a relatable speaker for UW students.

“We thought [Tuaolo] would have…the best advice to give on what it’s like to be in the closet and come out of the closet in such a high publicity, high stress environment,” Schultz said. “We wanted to bring a speaker that everyone could relate to.”

To students like Elise Ganser, a junior on the lightweight crew team at UW and a member of the LGBT community, Tuaolo was a source of encouragement.

“I thought it was amazing,” she said. “As an athlete too, it’s just really awesome to know that there are other people like that, and… that it happens, and here’s an example; and he’s happy, he’s fine.”

Madison Area Technical College junior Anthony Berumi agreed that Tuaolo could serve as a source of inspiration, especially for student athletes.

“I definitely related with a lot of what he was saying,” Berumi said. “I think it’s great to have someone that’s especially played for the Packers, being in Wisconsin, and being out, and being so happy with his life now. I definitely see him as being an inspiration for closeted athletes.”

The affection between speaker and audience was mutual, Tuaolo said after the presentation.

“It was such an amazing audience,” he said. “It seems like everybody that was here wanted to make a difference, and that’s a really important thing.”