On Wednesday I had the opportunity to interview Wade Davis II on Skype.  Wade is a former NFL player and current Executive Director of the You Can Play Project.

Our conversation covers:

• 
  
• The Out List
  
• How achieving success has changed him
  
• How the You Can Play Project aims to eradicate homophobia in sports, how you can get involved and why Wade wants to put it out of business
  
• The Olympics in Russia
  
• What he learned in his football training that can be applied to anyone trying to accomplish their dreams
  

About Wade 

Wade Davis II is a nationally recognized speaker, advocate, writer and educator. He is a former NFL athlete who played for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks as well as two different teams within the NFL Europe. After retiring, Wade owned a media business through a partnership with the New York Times called InMotion Media. Currently, Wade is the Executive Director of the You Can Play Project. His writings and interviews have appeared in the LA Times, The Huffington Post, New York Times, The Advocate, OutSports, TheGrio.com, and other media outlets including President Barack Obama’s Whitehouse blog. He has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, BBC, CNN, and BET. Wade served as an LGBT Surrogate for President Obama during the 2012 election.

Also, Wade is a board member of You Can Play and GLSEN’s (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network) Sports advisory board. He was invited to speak at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC in 2012 and is currently partnering with the Minority AIDS Institute.

He was named #46 on The Root 100 list of Black Influencers and Achievers and was voted as one of the 50 Black LGBT Adults that Black LGBT Youth Should know in 2012.

Wade received his BA in Business Administration from Weber State University in 2000.