David Ash focused on quieting critics who thought he should quit

[Harry]

Texas quarterback David Ash has heard the comments and filtered through the feedback on social media.

He knows lots of well-meaning individuals believe he should have punted his favorite sport after missing 10 of the Longhorns 13 football games last season because of concussion-related issues.

A lot of people told me, You need to give it up. You need to quit, said Ash, who acknowledged having multiple heart-to-heart talks with his mother about his return to the Longhorns this season. In my mind, I always knew I was always going to play again.

That is because every time someone urged Ash to become a former athlete, he reflected on the story of an Olympic gold medalist he admires: Eric Liddell, the son of Scottish missionaries who represented Great Britain in the 1924 Summer Games in Paris.

Liddell, a devout Christian whose story is depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, won medals in the 400-meter dash (gold) and 200-meter dash (bronze). But he refused to compete in his best event, the 100-meter dash, because one of the qualifying heats fell on a Sunday. Liddell declined to run on the Sabbath because of his religious convictions.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/08/24/6064497/david-ash-focused-on-quieting.html#storylink=cpy