Former Tennessee Titans DB Wade Davis Discusses Being Gay In The NFL

The Wade Davis story has been making the rounds recently and it is an interesting one. Ten years ago he was struggling to earn a spot with the Tennessee Titans while also keeping up appearances in the Tennessee locker room. In an interview with Outsports, discussing his time with the Titans and teammates Jevon Kearse and Samari Rolle, Davis cuts right to the heart of what presumably many other athletes must find in the bizarre dichotomy of professional sports locker rooms.

"You just want to be one of the guys, and you don't want to lose that sense of family," Davis says. "Your biggest fear is that you'll lose that camaraderie and family. I think about how close I was with Jevon and Samari. It's not like they'd like me less, it's that they have to protect their own brand."

Now a decade later, his professional football career over due to injury and ineffectiveness, Davis finds himself a staff-member for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning youth service group in Manhattan. His attitude and perspective have influenced many and it's a position he seems to relish more than any he played in his time in the NFL.

"How many people get to live out their two dreams?" Davis asks. "I got to play in the NFL, and now I get to change the world."

The whole thing is worth a read if you have not done so already. Wade Davis talks for the first time about being gay in the NFL, working with LGBTQ youth [Outsports]