Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Gareth Thomas - Page 2

Finding a release mechanism after the pressure of a Test-match week can take over, and the next game can seem as though it might as well be six months away.

I wish Mike Ruddock nothing but the very best in whatever he does in the future. I will always remember him as the guy who had the confidence to make me captain of Wales.

Times change so fast.

The sports are almost different cultures so saying I prefer one to the other is wrong. Rugby union is guided by a lot of rules, league by the players.

I was never ever attracted to any of my rugby mates; I was really good at switching off my emotions and I wouldn't have even considered crossing that line.

I became the master of playing the straight bat - I would go to bars with the boys, I would always be the one to start a fight, to be outrageous and drink the most. I even went to the extreme of marrying the perfect woman for me.

You've got to be a right grouch to hate holidays, but one thing I do hate is the old towel on the sun bed trick. It kills me that people get up at five in the morning and go down to the swimming pool and reserve their sun bed with a towel.

Wherever I am in my life, it's because rugby has enabled me to do that.

As a professional sportsman, working out has always been an important part of my life.

Playing rugby has been my whole life and for me, keeping fit was part of my job. But when I gave up my career, I was determined to keep motivated, and that isn't always easy when you have lost the competitive edge to it.

I find it hard to believe that people can be jealous of other people's success.

After giving up rugby, I wanted to keep busy.

I had a stroke in 2006. I thought: 'This is it.'

I know it's not easy for people to get to a gym.

Growing up I wasn't aware of a single gay person in our town. The only people who were gay that you had any idea of were Kenny Everett and people like him on TV. I thought, that's not what I am.

Sometimes, players find it impossible to see the bigger picture after games for the simple reason that we are the ones who have actually played.

I've always wanted to go to Chicago.

I like to think I'm a bit of a son of the country, I've played for the country so many times I feel proud to be Welsh. It's accepted me for what I am and what I do.

When I was 16 or 17 I knew I was gay, but knowing and accepting are two very different things.

I knew I was gay at 18, but to come out then would have meant I would not have achieved what I did in rugby. I loved rugby so much and it was so important to me that I made the decision to keep my sexuality secret. People may disagree with that, but it was my belief and my decision.

If I keep getting letters or if I keep getting messages from people who are still taking strength from my story, who are still finding it difficult and struggling, then you know what, then I'll keep doing what I do.

When the Wales squad met up for the 2005 autumn internationals, I was already concerned that we were slipping into bad habits. And, yes, the role of head coach Mike Ruddock was, in my opinion, becoming a problem that would eventually need to be addressed if nothing changed.

I hated being Gareth Thomas. I hated the man I looked at in the mirror.

Every gay man will tell you that 'coming out' is like a weight lifted from your shoulders and beng able to walk down the street knowing that there is nothing for me to hide has been a liberating experience.

Part of a sportsman's job is taking banter from the crowd.

People tend to be consumed by sport when the big events come up.

I can remember lacing up my boots ahead of my first cap against Japan in the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. I remember the changing room, the smell of the place, every last detail of how I warmed up, walking out onto the pitch, thinking how proud my parents would be. I was doing all I ever wanted to do.

When you lie you live in fear as well.

It's only when you leave the rugby bubble that you understand that negative criticism is not personal, it's reality because we don't always get everything right.

Everything I ever did in my life when I was younger revolved around wanting to play for Wales, and then you get that cap... it's hard to describe.

If I'm in the position to help someone else I'd love to be able to.

If I hadn't had the rugby field to get rid of my aggression I would have been locked up a long time ago.

When I came out I hoped it would empower others - and it has.

I became a master of disguise and could play the straight man down to a tee, sometimes over-compensating by getting into fights or being overly aggressive because I didn't want the real me to be found out. So I created this alter ego, knowing full well that I was living in my little fantasy bubble, my shell.

You could say I'm the pioneer in the way I have changed some people's perception of not only sports people but of gay men in general. It's also important that people also realise that as much as a pioneer I'm also just a normal person. I'm normal but I've done something that's pretty powerful as well.

I've been through 20 years of torment battling with my sexuality.

Gay men are accepted in films, music and politics because people came out and broke the mould and stereotype in those industries. What I am trying to do is break the trend in rugby and sport in general and show any aspiring sportsman, regardless of his age, that the mould has been broken.

People can be really famous in Wales for rugby, but outside of Wales nobody really has a clue who you are or what you've done.

I loved playing rugby so much. I would have played rugby every day if I could have. I loved being a player so much, I don't know if I could sit on the side, with the passion I have and try and influence without being on there.

I don't try and coax people to come out because it needs to be right for them as an individual but when I speak to some people I realise that the power and influence that famous sportspeople have is amazing and to show such a positive message can change the world.