THE LONGEST YARD

WATCH: Wade Davis On Being Gay In (And After) The NFL

Now a staffer at the Hetrick-Martin Institute, New York’s LGBT community-health center, Wade Davis was once a NFL cornerback who played in the preseason with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins in the early 2000s. In the above interview, with SBNation’s Amy Nelson, 34-year-old Davis discusses his life during and after football.

He says he knew other players wouldn’t accept him if they knew he was a homosexual because of the perception that being gay equals being less masculine. “There was a part of me that was a little relieved [when my career ended] because, when I knew football was over, my life would begin,” Davis said in an OutSports.com interview. “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.”

Photo: SBNation

 

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