ExNFL Star Wade Davis Speaks Publicly About Being Gay

Former cornerback Wade Davis (of the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins) becomes as rare as today's transit of Venus by coming out as one of the NFL’s very few openly gay ex-players.  Davis, who works at New York's Hetrick-Martin Institute for LGBT youth, spoke candidly with Outsports and SB Nation about being gay and closeted in the NFL, marking the first time  the former player has talked publicly about his sexuality.  USA Today reports on the landmark interviews: "I think subconsciously, I understood that being gay —  the way I was raised -- was wrong, and there was no way  that my family, at least in my mind, would accept me,” Davis told SBNation's Amy Nelson. "And also that my football  family would (not) accept me just because of the perception of being gay meant that you're less masculine." That meant holding himself back personally 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."