An NFL veteran showed up on 'The Voice' stage — and the coaches were just not ready for him
1990s NFL legend Esera Tuaolo made a mark as a talented singer on season 13 of 'The Voice.' The former Oregon State Beavers champion mesmerized the coaches with his electrifying rendition of Andra Day's 'Rise Up' during the blind auditions. Tuaolo confessed to putting his singing career on the back burner because of his rising football career. "I got this opportunity from 'The Voice' to come back and relive this dream," he admitted during his introductory clip. The pro footballer, however, failed to earn the four-spin moment during the segment. Blake Shelton and Jennifer Hudson were the only ones who turned their chairs to snatch Tuaolo up for their respective teams, while Adam Levine and Miley Cyrus remained put on their red seats.
"I just wanted you to know, man, I could just feel your presence as if I'm like, That's a big dude back there. I'm like, That guy has a great voice. It could also whoop my ass, dude. The way you fell off on the moments that are normally really big in the song didn't sit well with me at first, but then I actually grew to like it a lot," Levine later gushed after the Hawaiian native's performance. Hudson lauded his song choice and called it one of her favorite tracks. "That's probably part of what caught my attention, and the way you executed the soaring notes, they were great," she said.
Shelton soon got on to the primary duty of pitching like a pro to be the 48-year-old artist's coach. "I turned around; I could see that you are so focused on Jennifer. I'm a country singer, but I've got a lot of experience doing this with a lot of different types of artists, and I'm a fan of great singers, and you're one of them. I'm such a football geek, and if I were your coach, I'd probably drive you nuts. You definitely got two servants of talent, man, so congratulations to whatever coach you go with, man." Finally, Tuaolo chose Shelton as his mentor and went on to ace all the rounds to reach the Playoff Round.
Sundays just got that much better with my new buddy Esera! And he’s a great singer too? Double whammy! #VoicePremiere
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) September 26, 2017
The country singer was so happy to have the former footballer on his team that he tweeted his excitement on X. However, the veteran coach did not include the Hawaiian native in the final three for the finale. According to Today, Tuaola has previously performed the national anthem at local and national sports events and released his music from time to time. The pro footballer confessed to coming out with his sexuality later in life. "When I finished in the NFL, I came out to my family," he confessed. "When I said those words for the first time, when I said that 'I was gay,' it was like this huge mountain just crumbled."
"I felt light as a feather, but when I jumped on the scale, I was still that 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound Samoan that's gay and played in the NFL," he added. Tuaolo has his music streaming on all major platforms as he continues to grow in his career.