Brendan Burke’s dad holds press conference: “He had a huge heart and a great future”

Brian Burke, the president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and general manager of Team USA at this month’s Olympics, talked about the death of his openly gay son, Brendan Burke, during an emotional press conference.

“It’s not supposed to be this way, your kids are supposed to bury you,” Burke told reporters. “It’s compounded by the fact that Brendan was a special kid, not too many 21 years old had blazed a trail like that, [he] had a huge heart and a great future. I promise that his message will live on.”

That message was that hockey at all levels should be a welcoming place for gay players. Brendan had been was attending Miami University in Ohio and was working with the school’s hockey team. He came out publicly in December in an interview with ESPN.com.

Then on Feb. 4, his life was cut short on in a car crash on an Indiana road made slick my heavy snowfall. His friend, 18-year-old Mark Reedy of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. was also killed in the head-on crash.

“I got the call that you never want to get,” said the father. “You don’t get the chance to say goodbye. …I don’t think my grief will ever end, I think a part of my heart was ripped out.”