Esera Tavai Tuaolo, nicknamed "Mr. Aloha", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers.
The Arizona State Sun Devils football team represents Arizona State University (ASU) in the sport of American college football. The Sun Devils team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Big 12 Conference. ASU has fielded a football team since 1897. The Sun Devils are led by head coach Kenny Dillingham and play their home games at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils have won seventeen conference titles.
The Arizona Wildcats football program represents the University of Arizona (UA) in the sport of American college football. Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They play their home games at Arizona Stadium, which opened in 1929 on the university's campus in Tucson, Arizona, and has a capacity of 50,782. The Wildcats head coach is Brent Brennan.
DeMarcus Granger is a former American football defensive tackle. After a heralded high school career, Granger's NFL prospects faded after an injury-plagued career at Oklahoma. He was not selected in the 2010 NFL draft.
Robert J. Rodriguez is an American football coach and former player who is the outside linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He most recently was the defensive line coach for the Arizona State University Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Rodriguez is a graduate of UTEP, where he played linebacker during the early 2000s and later return to coach the defense in 2008. Rodriguez would then coach in the National Football League as an assistant defensive coach for the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.
There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021, while with the Las Vegas Raiders. He became the first openly gay player to play in an NFL game on September 13, 2021. He later became the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game on January 15, 2022. Six former NFL players have come out publicly after they retired. In the 2014 NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected, which made him the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season.
Michael Alan Sam Jr. is an American former professional football defensive lineman who is a coach for the Panthers Wrocław in the European League of Football (ELF). Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was selected by the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL) in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played one game for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
The 2015 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It marked the Wildcats's 116th overall season, 38th as a member of the Pac-12 Conference and its 5th within the Pac-12 South Division. The team was led by head coach Rich Rodriguez, in his fourth year, and played its home games at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, AZ for the 87th straight year. They finished the season 7–6, 3–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the South Division. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated New Mexico.
Although gay athletes and coaches are increasingly accepted in college sports, they continue to be controversial among some people.
The 2016 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2016 season. The season was the Wildcats's 117th overall, 39th as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, and its sixth within the Pac-12 South Division. The team played their home games at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona for the 88th straight year. They were led by fifth-year head coach Rich Rodriguez. They finished the season 3–9, 1–8 in Pac-12 play to finish in last place in the South Division.
The 1987 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were coached by Dick Tomey in his first season with the school. Tomey was hired from Hawaii to replace Larry Smith, who accepted the head coaching position at USC, who like Arizona, was in the Pac-10 Conference. Tomey and Smith would face other later in the season.
The 1981 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Larry Smith, the Wildcats compiled a 6–5 record, finished in a tie for sixth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents, 253 to 205. The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.
The 1983 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Larry Smith, the Wildcats compiled a 7–3–1 record, finished in fifth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents, 343 to 188. The offense scored an average of 31.2 points per game, the eighth best average in Division I-A. The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. They were ineligible for a bowl game due to NCAA violations.
The 1988 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Dick Tomey, the Wildcats compiled a 7–4 record, finished in a tie for third place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents, 279 to 218. The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.
The 1995 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth season under head coach Dick Tomey, the Wildcats compiled a 6–5 record, finished in a tie for fifth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents, 207 to 199. The team played its home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.
The 2017 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona during the 2017 season. The season was the Wildcats's 118th overall, 40th as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, seventh within the Pac-12 South Division, and the sixth and final year under head coach Rich Rodriguez. The team played their home games at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona for the 89th straight year.
Edward "Chip" Sarafin is a former American football offensive lineman from Gilbert, Arizona. In 2014, he became the first openly gay active NCAA Division I player when he came out as gay.
Scott A. Frantz is an American former college football player who was an offensive tackle for the Kansas State Wildcats. He earned second-team all-conference honors in the Big 12 as a senior in 2019.
The 2020 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Chip Kelly and competed as members of the Pac-12 Conference in the South Division.
