Sometimes the right decision can be the toughest one to make.
Texas quarterback David Ash turned in his helmet and shoulder pads for good this week, walking away from football following what many believe to be a third concussion in less than a year. Longhorns coach Charlie Strong made the announcement Wednesday.
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“We just decided that, because of his health, the No. 1 concern for all of us, he is no longer going to play football,” Strong said in an article in Thursday’s Dallas Morning News by Chuck Carlton.
Despite his unwillingness to walk away after concussions ended his 2013 season after three games, Ash always kept his priorities in line, writes ESPN.com’s Max Olson. Ash saw himself with unfinished business, so he worked hard to get back to the sport he loves even while those close to him asked him why? Perspective, Olson wrote, became everything.
“I think you just be thankful for what you get,” Ash said, “and this goes for any person in any situation. You look at situations and say, ‘I’m a victim. Why me?’ Or you can look at situations and say, ‘Wow, I’m so thankful that I even got to do this much.’ So attitude is everything in those kinds of situations.”
Ash knew his football career didn’t have long. Few if any saw him as a pro prospect. He simply wanted to come back, see if the hard work would pay off, and in the worst case scenario, walk away on his own terms.
“Ash got another shot against North Texas on Aug. 30,” Olson wrote. “He played as long as he could. When it was over, when the symptoms came back, he knew he could walk away without regret.”
Ash walks away with a 15-7 record in 22 starts, and he ranks eighth on Texas’ all-time passing list. More importantly, he walks away without subjecting himself to more head trauma, says Cedric Golden in the Austin American-Statesman.
“As happy as I am that Ash’s brain won’t be unnecessarily subjected to any more trauma, I’m just as happy that he made the right call for his long-term health,” he wrote Thursday.
Ash’s decision – one that people everywhere – hoped he’d make, came after Ash gave himself every opportunity to follow his dream. When the symptoms returned following the North Texas game this season, he knew. More importantly, so did everyone else, including those who would stand to benefit from his potentially healthy return – the coaches who found themselves in desperate need of a proven commodity who could bring stability and confidence to an offense currently lacking in both.
Strong’s made the tough calls throughout his young tenure at Texas, specifically as it refers to disciplining – and cutting ties with – players who will not adhere to his core values. This one, he said, wasn’t tough at all, as Brian Davis reported in the Austin American-Statesman.
“Nobody wanted to admit it publicly, but the Texas coaches knew injured quarterback David Ash wasn’t coming back. Team doctors knew it, so did the trainers,” Davis wrote. “On Wednesday, Ash admitted to Texas coach Charlie Strong that he finally knew it, too.”
“What I told him, that’s been our concern the whole time,” Strong said Wednesday during a news conference. “There was no way we were going to let you back out on the field. We were going to be concerned about your health.”
So Ash can begin the next phase of his life, off the football field. He’s not done with the team yet. Strong made it clear the redshirt junior remains a vital part of the Texas team and needs him to remain involved as a leader and mentor to the young quarterbacks.
“He is going to be part of the team, because I told him I wanted him around the team, and that’s what he deserves,” Strong said in another of Olson’s posts on ESPN.com.
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