Miami still hurts over death of Pata

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The reality never changes. Edwin Pata arises each morning thinking it was all a nightmare, that someone really didn’t hold a gun close to his brother’s head and pull the trigger before leaving him to die in a parking lot.

Every morning, same hope.

Every morning, same pain.

It’s been nine months since Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was killed outside his apartment complex last Nov. 7, a couple hours after he left practice and a quick dinner with teammates. Nine months of frustration and anger, nine months of grief, nine months without answers. For those who cared about Pata most, time hasn’t made it easier to handle.

“There’s a person out there enjoying life, living life,” Edwin Pata says, the volume of his words quickly rising from conversational levels to almost a shout. “And that person, he, she, whomever, isn’t going through half of what my family is going through. They don’t know what we’re going through. But we keep hoping.”

Really, that’s all Pata’s family and teammates can do.

Pata was a senior last season, meaning he wouldn’t have been around the Hurricanes these days anyway. He’d have surely been selected in the NFL draft and vying for pro playing time. But he’s still part of the Hurricanes in many ways; his locker remains empty, except for a simple memorial plaque, and his No. 95 jersey is unassigned.

“It still hurts,” Miami linebacker Tavares Gooden said, “as bad as it ever did.”

Gooden is one of those tough-as-nails guys, a sleek, muscular man who loves to hit and doesn’t necessarily like showing his soft side.