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Ex-Titans CB Wade Davis comes out

06/08/2012

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Ex NFL player, Wade Davis comes out as gay!  Watch the interview below!

A cornerback who spent four preseasons with three NFL teams and also played in NFL Europe has come out as gay, joining a small but growing number of former athletes who are publicly acknowledging they are gays or lesbians.

Wade Davis, who played in college at Weber State and spent the 2000 and 2002 preseasons with the Tennessee Titans, said he didn't tell his teammates he was gay because he feared the impact it would have in the locker room. Jevon Kearse and Samari Rolle were among his closest friends on the Titans, and he would later be invited to Rolle's wedding.
"You just want to be one of the guys, and you don't want to lose that sense of family," Davis said in an interview with Outsports.com. "Your biggest fear is that you'll lose that camaraderie and family."

But Kearse said he doesn't think Davis being openly gay would have changed anything.

"I know there have been a lot more than just Wade," Kearse told Outsports. "It's just becoming more acceptable, which is a good thing so they can come out and not feel secluded."

While there has yet to be an openly gay player in any of the four major American professional leagues, several players have come out after retiring, including former NBA forward John Amaechi, NFL lineman Esera Tuaolo and major leaguer Billy Bean. Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the Golden State Warriors, is openly gay.

Davis' football career ended in 2003, after he got hurt in training camp. He is now a staff member at the Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York, which serves, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press 
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ESPN Announces New Documentary About the Day Magic Johnson Disclosed His HIV Status

02/22/2012

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ESPN Announces New Documentary About the Day Magic Johnson Disclosed His HIV Status

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ESPN Films and NBA Entertainment announced the debut of the documentary The Announcement, which will take viewers back to Nov. 7, 1992, the day that basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnsondisclosed to the world that he was HIV positive. The documentary, directed by Nelson George (HBO'sLife Support), will first air Sunday, March 11, at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

The Announcement, which is narrated by Johnson himself, includes interviews from many people in Johnson's life, including comedian Chris Rock, former basketball player Larry Bird, and Johnson's wife Cookie and son Andre.  What the preview below!
Here are some highlights:

Magic on telling his wife Cookie he was HIV-positive:

"I played against the best in basketball: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird ... shoot I thought that was going to be the most difficult thing to do. Those things were nothing. The most difficult thing in my life was driving from the doctor's office to tell my wife Cookie, I had HIV."

Magic on how he felt during the press conference:

"Was I scared? No question about it I was scared. I wasn't scared to announce it; I wasn't scared of the media. What I was scared of is ... would I see them again?"

Larry Bird on his reaction to the news:

"I always want to play. I always want to get to the arena, get my uniform on and get out there, but I didn't want to that day. I wanted no part of that game that night."

Magic on Cookie who forced him to live when he was ready to give up on life:

"I wasn't Magic. I was just this guy who was so devastated that he gave up on life. Cookie had to talk to me, 'Look, you always had plans to do more than just basketball, now is your time to do those things.'"

Magic on AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser:

"She told me that I was going to be fine. She was the first one who said, 'You know you're going to be fine. You know all the drugs that are coming down the pipeline you're going to take advantage of that and you are going to be able to live for a long time.' I tell you that is when I felt that I had a chance to be there and live for a long time and then she said to me, 'The only thing I want from you is to be the face of this disease because they need the disease to have a face.'"

Magic on the reaction of some friends:

"I would call people, 'Let's work out.' They always had something to do. 'Oh no, I can't right now because I've got to get ready for the game or whatever.' Can you imagine that? I played one-on-one my whole life and now I'm looking for someone to play one-on-one with."

Magic on Pat Riley, who worked him out at Madison Square Garden, when others had shunned him:

"That was the kick in the butt in a sense that I needed. It helped me to understand that there were better days ahead. He actually changed my life that day."

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Michael Irvin champions equality

07/13/2011

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Former Dallas Cowboys player Michael Irvin Champions Equality in Gay Magazine Out

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Former Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin appears shirtless on the cover of this month's gay men's magazine Out and discusses his passion for equality issues.

Irvin publicly acknowledges that the impetus for taking a stand comes from his relationship with his gay brother, Vaughn, who died of stomach cancer in 2006. Irvin had not spoken publicly about his brother previously, according to the magazine.

Irvin says that his father, Walter, helped him learn a tolerant form of Christianity because the elder Irvin accepted his gay son and encouraged him to love his brother unconditionally.

Irvin now believes the African-American community should support marriage equality.

"I don't see how any African-American, with any inkling of history, can say that you don't have the right to live your life how you want to live your life," he said, according to the magazine. "No one should be telling you who you should love, no one should be telling you who you should be spending the rest of your life with. When we start talking about equality, and everybody being treated equally, I don't want to know an African-American who will say everybody doesn't deserve equality."

Watch the video from ESPN below and read the entire article here.
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