Time for Texas QB David Ash to Walk Away from Game After Repeated Concussions

What's happening to Texas quarterback David Ash is incredibly unfair. 

In his Monday press conference, head coach Charlie Strong announced what could already have been assumed: that Ash is out indefinitely as he continues to recover from a concussion. Ash already missed Texas' Week 2 loss to BYU. 

The news brought about another tough moment in the discussion over whether Ash and Texas need to move in separate directions. Regardless of whether Ash is deemed healthy enough to return at some point this season, the painful reality should be addressed now:

It is in Texas' best interest, as much as it is in Ash's best interest, to move on.

Sophomore Tyrone Swoopes is the starting quarterback, according to Strong. Little went right in the 41-7 rout on Saturday, but Swoopes showed progress from his limited play in 2013 with a 20-of-31 passing performance for 176 yards, a touchdown and an interception. 

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The bigger issue regarding Texas' offense lies up front with the absences of center Dominic Espinosa (ankle) and tackles Kennedy Estelle (suspension) and Desmond Harrison (suspension). Per Strong, Estelle and Harrison are still facing disciplinary action. 

The Horns' offense could be a liability all year because of that attrition. Rushing Ash back won't fix that. Strong knows this as well as anyone. 

"You have to be concerned, any time you have that number of concussions," Strong said about Ash (via FoxSports.com). "We will never jeopardize a young man's health for the sake of this football team. That will always be the case."

If we're being honest, how many people realistically expected Ash to return for the Longhorns' Week 3 game against UCLA? His concussion, believed to be sustained on the hit featured below against North Texas in Week 1, already cost him one game. 

It looked like a common tackle, and Ash apparently didn't display symptoms until later, but that matters not. The hit former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy took to his shoulder in the 2010 BCS national championship, which knocked McCoy out for the game, wasn't exactly a decleater, either. 

A player just has to be hit the right way. 

This is not Ash's first concussion. He missed practically all of last season because of one he sustained against BYU in the second game of the year. Keep in mind that it was an injury so bad that doctors wouldn't let him stand on the sidelines during games out of concern for what bright lights and loud sounds may do to him. 

The sensible response is that Ash should retire from football. It was the sensible response last year, too. Brain injuries are a hot-button topic in football and the future of the sport may very well depend on how they are dealt with going forward. 

Ash's future may depend on it. 

As Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated wrote, Ash needs to be to tough enough to walk away: 

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Ash’s situation encapsulates the complexity of the concussion issue in football. The game teaches a lot of qualities that serve players well on and off the field. It teaches them to persevere through discomfort, to sacrifice for teammates, to mentally push through physical obstacles. Unfortunately, these same traits work against players when it comes to concussions. A player can see a bone sticking through his skin. He knows to stop trying to get up and play. He can’t see a bruise on his brain. 

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But Ash wanted to come back this year after being cleared by doctors in the offseason. His teammates wanted him back. Ash is a competitor and doesn't want to let anyone down, even though he would be doing nothing of the sort. It's the same reason why Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty played through two cracks in his spine against SMU even though he clearly didn't have to. 

Injuries are part of this violent sport. Yet we unreasonably hope that they will never cost a player his career. As safe as the powers-that-be can make this game—and they should exhaust all efforts to make it as safe as possible—stepping out on to the field each and every time is an assumed gamble. 

If Ash wants to take that gamble, is it Texas' prerogative to take that away from him? David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest explains the predicament: 

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However, is that fair if doctors say he's cleared to play (while also warning of the high probability of future head injuries) and Texas holds him out? I probably would, but is it Texas' responsibility to do what's best for Ash even if he won't do it himself? Or do his coaches and the school ultimately have to let him take a risk considering it's not an immediate life or death situation? 

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For folks watching this situation from afar, the decision for both Ash and Texas seems obvious. When you're emotionally invested, however, viewpoints change. That's what makes the decision to move on so difficult. But some of life's hardest choices are the correct ones. 

If Ash won't remove himself from playing, assuming he'll be able to play at all, Strong has indicated he could do it for him. And that will be the most painful decision of all for everyone involved. 

That's not fair, either. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football.