Former Seattle Seahawks footballer Wade Davis shocked the sports world when he revealed in an interview with SB Nation and Outsports that he is in fact a homosexual. He also played for Tennessee Titans, and the Washington Redskins.
Says Davis: "There was a part of me that was a little relieved because, when I knew football was over, my life would begin. I had this football life, but I didn't have another life away from that. Most of the guys had a family and a wife, but I had football and nothing else."
Davis also talked about what it was like being closeted in an NFL locker room even as he grew close to heterosexual teammates like the Titans' Jevon Kearse and Samari Rolle.
"You just want to be one of the guys, and you don't want to lose that sense of family," Davis told OutSports. "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."
Davis now spends his time working with LGBT youth at the Hetrick Martin Institute.
It's so hard to be yourself when we as a community are plagued with so many stereotypes. I could imagine that he had to work extra hard to hide his true feelings, especially when a lot of people think if gay sports players are in the locker room around alot of naked flesh that at some point we want to take advantage of you. I'm glad Wade can finally live his truth, but what does this do for future sports players and how can we evoke change in the sports community, where you can actuall be gay and play for a professional team? I say if the mainstream community won't except gays in sports, let's start a league of our own.
Check out his interview with SB nation below...
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