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BRYAN PATA, 22: Funeral services held for University of Miami defensive lineman

Friends and family members recounted stories with nearly 2,500 mourners as they paid their respects to slain University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata, who was shot in the head last week.

The New Birth Cathedral of Faith swelled with life Tuesday afternoon, even as it mourned the death of 22-year-old Bryan Pata.

About 2,500 men, women and children packed the Baptist church in Opa-locka for the stirring funeral service -- dubbed the ''Homegoing Celebration'' -- of the University of Miami football player who was shot in the head by an unknown assailant one week ago Tuesday.

''The last time I saw him was the Florida State-Miami game,'' said Edwin Pierre-Pata, a walk-on tight end for FSU and one of Pata's 11 siblings. ``It was raining every day, just pouring Friday and Saturday. I remember we were warming up before the game, and I heard someone calling my name and it sounded faint. I turned around and I finally saw it was him.

''Yesterday, I was looking at some pictures and somebody took a picture of that. He was standing there, and I was turning and looking at him and he had his hands out like this,'' Pierre-Pata said, stretching his arms out over his head. ``And I know one day he'll be waiting with welcome arms to see me once again . . .

``The thing that hurts the most is that he didn't deserve to die that way. Even with athletics, he worked so hard to get where he was at. It just doesn't seem fair for it to end that way.''

COMFORTING CALL

Pierre-Pata was one of several people who spoke to the 2,000 squeezed into the sanctuary and to hundreds more who sat in side rooms with closed-circuit TVs or in a circular hallway to listen to the piped-in service. The Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with Pata's mother, Jeanette Pata, and Edwin Pierre-Pata by phone, according to his representative, former Dallas Cowboy Dextor Clinkscale, who came to the funeral.

''The reverend is a huge sports fan and an incredible humanitarian,'' Clinkscale said. ``This was a senseless and tragic event. We grieve along with the family.''

The UM football team, their girlfriends and coaches arrived in three police-escorted buses. They filed past their senior teammate, who lay in an open casket for the public to view before and after the service.

''This is a terrible circumstance,'' UM athletic director Paul Dee said. ``It was a very emotional ceremony, and it had tremendous impact.''

The service, much of it paid for by UM, lasted 90 minutes, then continued informally as gospel singers performed.

Pata's green No. 95 jersey was framed near the casket. Two giant screens flashed Pata photographs.

The 6-4, 280-pound defensive tackle was remembered by fellow lineman and roommate Dwayne Hendricks.

After a deep breath that reverberated on the public address system, Hendricks spoke about some of Pata's strange bathroom habits, making the large audience roar. Then he got serious.

''Pata and his family have really been the only family I've had besides my teammates,'' Hendricks said. ``I could never repay his mother, his brothers, his sisters, his father, for raising such a man to make me be who I am today.

''He would want us all to be right now just as strong and determined as he was,'' Hendricks continued, conveying the emotional struggle Pata endured when he was switched before the season from defensive end to defensive tackle. ``I have never seen anybody work as hard as I saw Pata work. He'd want everybody on this team, his family, to keep fighting and keep grinding and keep pushing on, because you never know when your time is up. . .

''To Pata himself, I never got to tell him,'' Hendricks said, his voice cracking, ``but as a brother, as a teammate and a role model, I love you, man. And you'll always be missed, my dog. Thank you.''

Also speaking was defensive line assistant Clint Hurtt and UM chaplain Steve Caldwell, who gave a rousing eulogy about Pata and God and why, as Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote, ''bad things happen to good people. . . . Some things are just hard to understand,'' Caldwell said. ``Let's love each other while we have a chance. Life is too short to hate.''

A FAMILY'S GRIEF

Family friend Victor Edmund spoke in English, Haitian Creole and Spanish on behalf of the Patas, who are of Haitian descent. When he spoke in Creole about how the Haitian community should feel particularly proud of Pata and try to represent him in a positive way, dozens of friends and family members wailed and screamed out, their arms reaching upward.

Pata's mother was overcome with grief and held by her sons for most of the service, as others waved fans by her face to keep her cool. Pata is also survived by his father, Junior Pierre. His brothers are Cosner Pata, Jackson Pata, Fednol Pierre, Edrick Pierre-Pata, Jonathan Pierre, Isaac Pierre, Sampson Pierre and Edwin Pierre-Pata. His sisters are Ketty Larose, Ronette Pata and Nelly Pierre.

The on-campus noon memorial at Gusman Hall today is restricted to the UM community.