After University of Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan was knocked to the turf Saturday night suffering a concussion, Patrick Freitas and Bobby Lee took note and figured "well, that's it for him for a while."

But, then, Freitas is an Icon mixed martial arts promoter and Lee a state boxing commissioner, both sports where a knockout or concussion earns an automatic, minimum, 30-day medical suspension.

While it may be a game-time decision whether Brennan plays Friday at Nevada, in boxing or mixed martial arts the decision would have already been made for him. "He wouldn't be allowed to compete here (in Reno) until his suspension was lifted (in Hawai'i) and he was OK'd by our doctors," said Keith Kaiser, executive officer of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

That incongruity begs for reflection when it comes to dealing with concussions in two violent but disparately governed corners of the sports world.

For all the criticisms leveled at MMA and boxing, they actually have the more progressive approach to what has been termed the "silent epidemic" — concussions in athletics. "A lot of people think it is football, oh well, he can go back in — not just the next few days but in two or three plays," Kaiser said. "But in MMA and boxing, he's out for at least 30 days."

There is no across-the-board standard in much of football, where each team determines the availability of concussion victims. Only recently, under new commissioner Roger Goodell, for example, has the sport's richest, most technically advanced entity, the NFL, acknowledged the long-term dangers inherent in concussions. Just in the past week has the NFL begun to put the weight of headquarters behind enforcing prohibitions against helmet-to-helmet contact. And that is spurring colleges and high school to take a longer, more proactive look as well.

As they do, they could do worse than look to boxing for inspiration where there are lessons to be learned and caution to be taken. There, the toll of too many tragic stories, like that of Jerry Quarry and Muhammad Ali and the legislative pressure they have generated, has forced the sport to come to grips with the lingering effects of blows to the head. Pro football is sadly just beginning to come around on the damage done to generations of its players.

Meanwhile, Brennan's case, where his availability will prudently be decided by team doctors although it will be up to head coach June Jones to decide even then if Brennan plays, is helping to focus attention on the treatment and prevention of concussions in football. As such, it is helping fuel discussion not only here but across wider landscape. The more pointed questions that are asked and the willingness to dig deeper for answers the better.

A human mind is a terrible thing to risk, whether it be in boxing or mixed martial arts ring or on a football field.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.