The National Football League may be tackling one of its biggest issues this coming year with the addition of diversity training at some of the preseason camps and with an address from Esera Tuaolo, the former NFL player who came out in 2002. In the past few seasons, players like Garrison Hearst, Jeremy Shockey and even former San Diego Charger Junior Seau have made disparaging remarks about the prospect of gay players in the NFL, and have put a spotlight on the subject in the mainstream media.

At the San Francisco 49ers preseason training camp in June, the team conducted a diversity training class that addressed issues related to sexual orientation. The 49ers conducted the workshop as a result of two public incidences that highlighted homophobia on the team in what is widely regarded as one of America’s most gay-friendly cities.

In 2002, 49ers running back Garrison Hearst said in an interview with a columnist from the Fresno Bee that he would never accept a gay teammate: “Aww, hell no! I don’t want any faggots on my team. I know this might not be what people want to hear, but that’s a punk. I don’t want any faggots in this locker room.”

News media across the country reported the story on Hearst’s homophobic remarks, causing the player and 49ers management to hold a press conference to address the issue.

“These comments were inappropriate and hurtful to the Gay and Lesbian community, our fans, the City of San Francisco, and the NFL,” read part of a statement by team owner John York. “We expect better from our employees and we regret the negative impact these comments have caused. We will continue to educate our team and employees regarding tolerance and awareness.”

In February of this year, Lindsy McLean, the retired 49ers’ head trainer, came out publicly in an interview with ESPN Magazine. McLean said it had been an open secret within the 49ers organization by many players and team officials. In the article, McLean said that during his 24 years with the team he endured taunts and homophobic comments from players that included harassment from one player who would sometimes grab him in the training room and simulate a sex act while other players stood by.

In response to the article, team officials met with San Francisco’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Committee about having a team-wide diversity training session.

“We want everybody to be fans of the 49ers,” said Guy McIntyre, the team’s player development director and a former 49ers offensive lineman, in an interview with the New York Times.

“We can’t go around doing anything that is going to harm that relationship. The organization did the right thing. We’re setting a precedent in the league. It’s very diverse in many different ways – not just sexual orientation, but in gender, ethnicity and culture, and we have to be respectful of that because we are growing.”

Following on the heels of the 49ers diversity training, the NFL invited Tuaolo to attend a meeting on June 30 to address approximately 200 NFL employees at their league headquarters in New York. With an audience that included top league executives, Tuaolo said that it was important to create an environment that was accepting of gay players, and encouraged the league to extend benefits to the families of gay and lesbian employees within the league.

“It was a very uplifting experience for me,” Tuaolo told Outsports.com, “and an eye-opening experience for the employees in the NFL, because it’s such a homophobic environment in pro football.”

Tuaolo went on to say that he hopes the NFL talk will be a catalyst for addressing the subject in the league and that he would like to see the NFL integrate the topic of homophobia into its 2005 rookie symposium that all incoming players are required to attend. Greg Aiello, a league spokesman, told the New York Times “we are clearly evaluating that idea and how it can be done.”