Brendan Burke’s coming out started widespread talk in the hockey world of whether gay people have any place in athletics.

After years of playing competitive hockey himself, Burke is currently the student manager for the Miami (Ohio) University Redhawks.  More notably though, Burke is also the son of Toronto Maple Leaf General Manager Brian Burke.

The story of Burke’s coming out was revealed Wednesday in an ESPN.com article.

“Middle school and early high school is the first time I remember thinking that I could be gay, but I definitely tried to ignore it and didn’t want to seriously consider it,” Burke told ESPN sports writer John Buccigross. “It’s pretty easy to try and convince yourself that it’s not true, but it won’t work, ever.”

To read more about this story, visit The Toronto Star.

– Simon Husted