WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Beginning with the football team's opener against Iowa this Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium, Purdue athletics will play its 2020-21 seasons in honor of the memory of former vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Morgan J. Burke.
Burke, who headed up Boilermaker athletics from 1993 to 2016, passed away this year on June 15 after a year-long battle with amyloidosis (a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with their normal function). He was 68.
The football team will have a memorial circle sticker on the rear of its helmets that bears Burke's initials – MJB – along with the rallying call "Boiler Up. Hammer Down. Hail Purdue."
All of Purdue's other teams will have a similar patch or sticker added to their uniforms or equipment in memory of Burke throughout their competitive seasons.
Burke is survived by his wife, Kate, three children – Joyce (husband Ryan), Morgan Jr. (wife Molly) and Patrick (wife Courtney) – and four grandchildren: Kate, Andrew, Parker June and Emily.
Burke, who headed up Boilermaker athletics from 1993 to 2016, passed away this year on June 15 after a year-long battle with amyloidosis (a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with their normal function). He was 68.
The football team will have a memorial circle sticker on the rear of its helmets that bears Burke's initials – MJB – along with the rallying call "Boiler Up. Hammer Down. Hail Purdue."
All of Purdue's other teams will have a similar patch or sticker added to their uniforms or equipment in memory of Burke throughout their competitive seasons.
Burke is survived by his wife, Kate, three children – Joyce (husband Ryan), Morgan Jr. (wife Molly) and Patrick (wife Courtney) – and four grandchildren: Kate, Andrew, Parker June and Emily.