Tre' Newton Quits Texas Due To Concussions: What's His Teammates' Excuse?

When Tre' Newton announced that he was quitting football due to a series of concussions dating back to his high school playing days, his Longhorn teammates rallied to his side to offer their support.

Sort of.

Despite doctors recommendations that Newton leave the gridiron or possibly suffer long term ramifications, apparently that wasn't quite good enough for Texas defensive backs Aaron Williams and Blake Gideon.

According to blogger Laken Litman, who covered the Longhorn presser, Gideon wasn't entirely sympathetic when he commented, "I always go 100 miles per hour and will worry about all that health stuff 10 years from now when I'm done playing," Gideon went on, "I'm making memories now. We all knew what we were signing up for when we started playing football."

Williams qualified having his former teammates back by saying, "I support Tre' but for me personally, I'd die on that field."

Those who view the Longhorns 4-6 record this year might suggest that provides a plausible explanation for their play.

Still others, perhaps more cynical, might offer that at least Newton had a legitimate reason to quit, and that those teammates he has left behind had much less reason to give up, other than a lack of heart.

Which brings us to Longhorn head coach Mack Brown.

Brown's coaching career has been one long string of success stories.

For that, he deserves all the accolades offered to one of the best coaches, at least on paper, in the country.

Of course, part of being a great college coach is the ability to recruit and according to professional recruiting services, you know, the so-called "experts," Texas perennially ranks in the top five every year for best prep incoming classes.

This includes this year's class, which must be wondering, based on the Longhorn's play this year, what the hell they are getting themselves into.

So why the 4-6 record this year?

How does Mack Brown allow a mediocre UCLA team to come into Austin and punk his Longhorns?

Is it a lack of talent, for which Brown is responsible for bringing in, or a lack of coaching skill?

Perhaps it is a bit of both.

Either way, when faced with adversity this year, the Longhorns laid down.

For years Texas has had it their way as they stepped on their poor Big-12 brethren, but not this year.

Instead, the Longhorns are being stepped on which makes the words of bravado that Newton's teammates offer ring somewhat hollow.

While Tre' Newton adjusts to a life without the sport, his teammates will look for respectability on the football field.

As Newton searches for new motivations after being dealt a cruel medical blow, the rest of the Longhorns will search for the kind of excellence that once made them one of the premier teams in college football.

Mack Brown, faced with challenges he has not seen in a long time, needs to lead them in that search.

That's what great head coaches do: They lead.

And if there was ever time that Texas needs a great leader, that time is now.

Instead of allowing your players to offer back-handed support for a hurting ex-teammate Mack, have your team search within to find their own problems and then fix them.

After all, Tre' Newton had a viable excuse for quitting.

What's yours, Longhorns?