In a family snapshot, Brendan Burke poses with the Stanley Cup in 2007, shortly after his father’s team at the time, Anaheim Ducks, won it all

Brendan Burke is a student manager for the Miami of Ohio hockey team, one of the top programs in the country, and the son of Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke.

He’s also an out gay man.

His story is now being told at ESPN.com.

The touching feature story by John Buccigross is titled, “'We love you, this won’t change a thing”.

That’s what his father told Brendan when he finally came out to the family. That’s what his macho hockey-exec dad, who is also GM of the US Hockey Team, told him.

The elder Burke tells Buccigross:

I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news didn’t alter any of them.

I would prefer Brendan hadn't decided to discuss this issue in this very public manner. There will be a great deal of reaction, and I fear a large portion will be negative. But this takes guts, and I admire Brendan greatly, and happily march arm in arm with him on this.

Must read: Gay son finds love and embrace from his macho hockey families [contd.]

There are gay men in professional hockey. We would be fools to think otherwise. And it’s sad that they feel the need to conceal this. I understand why they do so, however.

Can a gay man advance in professional hockey? He can if he works for the Toronto Maple Leafs! Or for Miami University Hockey. God bless [Miami (Ohio) coach] Rico Blasi! And I am certain these two organizations are not alone here.

His older brother describes Brendan as “smart, funny, motivated, successful, and happy”.

Coach Blasi tells Buccigross:

Brendan is a great guy, personable and caring. As student manager, he is involved in a lot of things for us—video, stats and community service, to name a few of his duties.

To my knowledge, there has been nothing negative [since he came out to us]. I think it goes along the lines that Brendan is part of our family. Everyone respects Brendan, and that’s all that really matters.

The players are awesome. They are very sensitive to language and how we talk in the locker room. Again, it goes back to our culture and working on relationships and behaviors.

Buccigross retells Burke’s coming out story from a number of perspectives, but does so with the unique journalistic latitude offered to a sports writer.

Buccigross tells Brendan’s story not in the impersonal third-person. Brendan isn’t “he”. Instead, Buccigross tells his story using a second-person voice where “you” refers to the reader that Buccigross hopes will imagine himself in Brendan’s situation.

Buccigross explains what happened when Burke finally decided to tell the coach and players that he’s gay:

The attitude across the team is pretty much the same: “Who cares?” or “I don’t understand why this is even an issue.” Players you don’t even expect to be supportive are. You say it is proof this kind of thing can happen in other places, too. You wish you could say that gay slurs have been banished from the Miami dressing room. It hasn’t happened yet, although serious progress has been made and one player in particular has made it a personal crusade.

He looks forward to a career like that his father has excelled in—a career in the NHL.

But now that you are “out”, can you successfully pursue a job in hockey, specifically in the NHL, if that is a wish?

You are applying to law schools right now. Hockey management and politics are two things you care about the most, and a law degree is required for both, so it leaves the door open for either. You say you would be lying if you said you don’t think sexual orientation affects a job in pro hockey. You believe it would make some things more difficult. There are going to be people who aren’t comfortable knowing they are working with a gay person.

It’s an amazing story that Buccigross weaves here. It’s more amazing still because it appears on ESPN.com.

Source: John Buccigross: How one of hockey's toughest men accepted his son's courageous admission - ESPN