So, you are startled this past summer when you get a call from Dad saying, "Hey, Toronto Pride is this weekend, you should fly up." So, sure enough, you fly up, and you and Dad go to the Toronto Pride Parade together.

Part of that acceptance was calling his son and inviting him to come to Toronto to experience this year's Gay Pride Parade.

"A few people recognized me and said hello," said Burke. "I would have marched in it if I'd known more about it. I'll march next year if I'm asked."

The younger folks certainly do get it, don't they?

ESPN could never run a segment like that TSN interview

An odd statement, considering that the source of the original story was John Buccigross, who is a broadcaster for ESPN, and the story first appeared on ESPN's website, and TSN is 20 percent owned by ESPN and broadcasts some of ESPN's programming and changed their logo to look like ESPN's and changed the name of their nightly sports show to SportsCentre (the only difference being the spelling) and...

The reason TSN ran the broadcast interview first is simply because hockey rules in Canada so it's a bigger story there.

Q: What has the reaction been from friends, people on the team and family since the article came out?

A: From friends and family, it's been 100-per-cent supportive. They've been behind me from the beginning and the same goes for the Miami University hockey team. I've had a whole bunch of e-mail and Facebook messages from people I've never met, thanking me. I've had a lot of messages from people who said they are gay and stopped playing sports for the same reason… so people seem to be responding well to it.

I do believe Brian though, when he suggested Brendan and his family may receive some negative reaction from a certain segment of society.

How do I know this you might ask?

My story goes like this. A couple of years ago a movie was released called Breakfast with Scot about a retired gay hockey player turned sportscaster (Eric) and his partner (Sam) and their relationship when they find out Sam’s very flamboyant stepson is going to be living with them.

I was asked to review the movie prior to its release and then critique the movie on Jian Ghomeshi’s CBC radio program, Q.

I found the movie to be moving, inspirational, as well as funny.

I even remember comparing it to one of my all-time favourites, Kramer vs. Kramer.

Later that weekend on Hockey Night in Canada, during our segment called Behind the Mask, Scott Oake and I discussed the movie, I think we even showed a clip and I spoke highly of the show for many reasons, including the message.

In hindsight I was naïve. The reaction from a small percentage of viewers surprised me. They were pissed. For a few weeks I was a target for a number of fanatical groups and individuals who are completely against a gay lifestyle.

I was made aware that the CBC received a number of emails expressing their displeasure with me and there was one in particular, shown to me by our Vancouver producer Tim Davis, that actually kind of scared me.

I was caught off guard by the hatred shown toward my belief that we’re all the same.

Let's say that an NFL football coach's son came out. Do you really think that Trey Wingo or Chris Berman would conduct a similarly subtle and positive interview? How about one of the myriad ex-jocks who have been brought on as anchors? Bob Ley on Outside the Lines...maybe. Almost anyone else, I'm skeptical.

Brian Burke isn't just a legend of the NHL. He's a fists-up, knock-your-teeth-out gladiator. But when his hockey-loving son came out of the closet and died soon after, he was thrust into a strange new role: advocate for gays in a macho sports culture.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and his son, Patrick, a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers, have just launched the You Can Play Project to tackle the “casual homophobia” of professional hockey, where there is still no openly gay athlete. The initiative is in honour of Brendan Burke, their son and brother, who came out shortly before he was killed in a car accident in 2010.
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The campaign is a small sign of change in the elite level of sport. One day this attitude may trickle down to places like the locker-rooms of the Lanark-Carleton Minor Hockey League, where Scott Heggart risked ostracization and ridicule to do what few athletes before him, professional or amateur, dared to.