Der Hammer

[Dr Butler]

very brave man...all the best Tommy ! UTV

[DBTW]

I am so pleased the way he hasnt made a massive deal of it and just come out with the fact he is gay. He seems to share the opinion of a lot of posters here that it doesnt matter whatsoever

[Chipsticks]

It's a shame that it's such a big deal, but fair play to him for making it public and hopefully he can do good work in reducing homophobia in football.

[rob_bridge]

Well done - hopefully it will make it easier for others to do so at an earlier stage during their playing career.

And even more salient, hopefully in 10 years time abslutely no-one (aside from BNP luddites) will bat an eyelid if teams have 2 or 3 openly gay players in thei squad.

[PeterWithe]

Good that he's come out but a shame he had to wait till he'd retired. Genuinely unsure how modern players would react. Is it such a big issue for people under 30? Or am I just basing that on a fairly unrepresentative sample of pinko liberal post uni students that I hang around with?

I don't have any articles or quotes to hand, so you'll have to take my word for it, but most of the players/former players who were asked about the subject in the media when Robbie Rogers came out basically said that nobody in the dressing room would care.  In fact, some said that there were plenty of players who were known to be gay by their teammates to the point that they would bring their partners to club functions and so on and it was never an issue.  The reason these guys didn't come out was because they were afraid of the reaction they'd get off opposition fans, and home fans (because if they went through a bad run of form everyone would assume it was something to do with theur sexuality.)

Hopefully in a few years this sort of thing won't be news any more, but for the time being well done Der Hammer.

Hitz is quoted in the Guardian saying that he didn't have a problem in dressing rooms in the UK, Italy or France.

[Smirker]

Fair play to him, a great footballer and handsome man.

[Hillbilly]

I'd more impressed if he came out as a, yer know, Brummie...

[lordmcgrath5]

Nice one Tommy, fair play and the very best of luck to you. He's always been extremely eloquent and it's good that what he has to say on this issue will be widely reported. He'll also help to create a climate in which others feel able to follow his example.

[MarkM]

For a horrible moment I thought he was coming out as blues fan!

[TRO]

Top man. Best of luck.

[ozzjim]

It is a sport thing as much as just a football thing isn't it? I don't know if it is thought that because you are a top sporting figure as a man you have to be a macho guy, fulfilling a womanising stereo type or what it is, but I certainly hope we can reach a point where this is not news, and people are able to live their lives in the way they wish without it making news for something like this. As others have said, in the meantime well done to Tommy for hopefully helping that transition. People like Tommy and the Rugby guy I always forget the name of are at least tackling the issue which can only be a positive.

More importantly, if he fancies a game, we could do with an attacking mid that can shooooooooot!

[johnny from donny]

As many have said, it shouldn't be news; that aside I wish him well in his retirement and hope that he is happy in whatever direction life takes him. He always comes accross as an intelligent and articulate bloke so I wouldn't be surprised if a media career awaits him.
Alternately a mentoring role may suit him well as he knows how it felt to move from his homeland at a young age and would be able to relate to.young players coming into a strange environment.

[villa kicks]

I agree with all ! I think its super he has stepped up and spoke out . I saw the news on here and turned on the radio. I am disappointed in talk sports i may have missed out but didi hamman was on and never heard anything ... Then i heard the news bulletins and they have nt mentioned it at all. ( but also i think talk sport is quite an ignorant station as on monday they talked about Monday the 6th Jan being the bleakest day - yeah well actually its the 3 kings and also a day of celebration for alot of  people round europe and the world as its not just english people who listen and live in uk)
Yes agreed it should nt be news but it is in football. Tommy Hitz is the biz !!
When will a british player step forward its an age of equality and i support all !!

[garyshawsknee]

Good luck to him,shame he was unable to do this while  he was still playing, though probably not wise while he was at Lazio.  Could do with him in the midfield right now.

[Damo70]

It isn't a big deal these days for most people when someone comes out as gay. The media may use it for a story if it is somebody high profile or particularly these days a sportsman. I suppose the big deal bit is for the person coming out, depending on how they view it in their own head. I had a good friend from college who kept it secret for years and ended up moving from Birmingham to London because he couldn't cope with grieving for his secret partner who died in an accident and not feeling as if he could tell anyone. After about three years he came back and told everybody and nobody had a problem. In all honesty nobody who knew him well was that shocked to be fair.