Wade Davis (American football)

At the NFL Scouting Combine of 2000, Davis ran the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds.[11] The Tennessee Titans signed him as an undrafted free agent on April 18, 2000 after the 2000 NFL Draft.[10] Davis was cut after training camp.[10]

In 2001, the Titans allocated Davis to the NFL Europe team Berlin Thunder. Starting all 10 games as left cornerback, he wore jersey number 23[12] and led Berlin with 57 tackles in the season and won World Bowl IX with the team. He also made 0.5 sack, 1 interception, and 5 passes defended. After the NFL Europe season, he spent the 2001 preseason in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks.[10]

Davis was selected in the first round of the 2002 NFL Europe allocation draft by the Barcelona Dragons.[10] In 2002 with Barcelona, he wore jersey number 25[13] and made 41 tackles, 6 passes defended, and 5 special teams tackles.[14]

Wearing jersey number 42,[13] Davis returned to the Tennessee Titans in 2002 for training camp and preseason but was cut before the regular season.[15] In 2003, he participated in training camp with the Washington Redskins and wore jersey #36 but retired from football due to a leg injury.[2][16]

His activism, work and story has been featured in The Washington Post,[17] CNN,[18] Al Jazeera America,[19] NPR,[20] WBUR,[21] USA Today,[22] Ebony Magazine,[23] People Magazine,[24] BET,[25] Outsports,[26] and Bleacher Report.[27]

Davis has also been an Adjunct Professor at both the NYU School of Professional Studies Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media, and Business and the Rutgers University School of Public Affairs and Administration.

Davis joined the Advisory Board for You Can Play, an organization dedicated to fighting homophobia in professional sports.[28] On August 20, 2013, he was named executive director of the organization.[29]

Davis co-founded, with Darnell L. Moore, the YOU Belong Initiative, an organization offering LGBTQ and straight allied youth a three-day, comprehensive sports instruction and leadership development clinic.[30] As part of YOU Belong, Davis also began the Speaker's Collective, aimed at providing support, promotion and sense of community for LGBTQ professionals of color.[31]

In 2014, Davis became the NFL's first Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, where he works with the NFL and their corporate sponsors to break down the barriers that exist between the NFL and the LGBT community by leading inclusion training sessions and national engagement initiatives.[32]

Davis created the "#ThisIsLuv" campaign alongside Darnell L. Moore, to highlight LGBT love in the Black community.[33][34]

Davis helped launch the Ms. Foundation campaign "#MyFeminismIs" and later partnered with the Ms. Foundation and Ebony Magazine to launch the "#BlackMenAndFeminism" campaign.[35]

In 2015 Davis starred in the documentary F(l)ag Football about the National Gay Flag Football League.[36] The following year he guest-starred on season 2 of the critically acclaimed drama American Crime in 2016. In 2019, he appeared as himself in a guest role in "Adam Ruins a Sitcom", a third-season episode of the series Adam Ruins Everything, in which he sought to raise awareness of toxic masculinity.

Davis' writing has appeared in The Huffington Post,[37][38][39] The New York Times, Outsports, Sports Illustrated,[40][41] The Advocate,[42][43] Good Housekeeping, and The Guardian.[44]

Davis' contributions are included in the book, For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home by Keith Boykin.[45]

His memoir, Interference, was scheduled to be released in 2015.[46] The memoir will chronicle his struggles growing up in a strict religious household and working and advocating for LGBTQ rights.[47]

Davis was appointed to the board of GMHC.[48]

He became a member of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network sport-advisory board in 2012.[49]

Davis is a supporter of President Barack Obama,[50] and worked as an LGBT surrogate for his 2012 reelection campaign.[51] During the 2016 presidential election, Davis criticized Hillary Clinton for "not having real courage" and endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders.[52]