Former NFL player Wade Davis — who has played for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks — came out of the closet to OutSports.com this week … and in a subsequent interview with CNN‘s Soldedad O’Brien, Davis discussed a number of related topics, including his time in the NFL, why he chose to reveal that he is gay, how he regrets not coming out earlier.

“If I could do it all over again, I would come out… while I was playing because I now understand the impact that that would have had. And it can change the lives of so many youth with bullying that’s going on and with this youth just not having a sense of family. You know, that’s just why the job that I have is so important. It is the greatest job I’ve ever had. I wake up every day excited about going to Hetrick-Martin.”

Watch the interview below: