Clint Trickett retired yesterday, meaning no bowl game and no CFL career (Aside: Remember, he was watching the CFL when he sent that regrettable tweet in July.) and instead an expedited path into coaching. We now figure out his spot in WVU lore and among the schools top five or top 10 quarterbacks, and let’s not forget his first half of the season was played at an all-time level.

For now, it’s fair to say he was a good sport, a good leader and a good figure for the offense. He never ran from things, MTEP excluded, and even at the end Friday had fun standing in front of the media one last time between his past and his future.

Trickett missed the regular-season finale a week later against the Cyclones and wasn’t cleared before traveling to his family’s home in Tallahassee, Fla., last week and then meeting the Mountaineers here Thursday.

Trickett said the doctor told him it would have been dangerous to play while still showing symptoms and that he should expect to be less effective if he did play.

“It was tough to hear it,” Trickett said. “The more and more I think about it I’m like, ‘Well, what I’m getting into, I probably need to have a couple brain cells left,’ so it is for the best.”

I have a hunch he’ll also leave a legacy that will shape some of the concussion protocols and evaluations at WVU — this is a good time to ask an AD such things — and I’m equally certain there will be something of a “What if …?” element to future discussions about Trickett.

I mean, what if this never happened.

That’s still an egregious miss by the officials. Walt Anderson could do 20 minutes on that at next summer’s Big 12 media days. Anyhow, we’re looking at Trickett now and we know his history and we try to count the five concussions. He said he had one against Kansas State last season, and never told anyone, and then had one against Texas that knocked him out of that game and kept him out of the Kansas game.

He said over the summer he had two last season, which would mean he had three this season, but perhaps he was hiding one then that he didn’t reveal until yesterday. We’re right to assume that. Let’s say he had three last season.

That play against TCU was never called a concussion, and maybe it was counted among the hidden. This play wasn’t, either, but I always had my suspicions because it looked really bad live and was forgotten beneath fantastic stats at the end of the day. Interestingly, Dana Holgorsen said Trickett was faking and Trickett said he was adding drama to the game. Trickett said he had the wind knocked ot of him, but today? Who knows.

Anyhow, the TCU play. Let’s not overlook the before and after. He was hot early against the Horned Frogs and started 7 for 9 for 77  yards and a touchdown. Trickett’s season numbers before that tackle? Try 225 for 328 (68.6 percent) for 2,840 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.

After that play? He went 56 for 91 (61.5 percent) for 445 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions. His yards per attempt average that was 8.6 before the questionable tackle dropped to 5.5. His head coach and offensive coordinator said he bailed on plays sooner than before and that he was probably feeling ghosts.

I have to think that play did some damage.

And we know this one did some damage, too.

I’ve seen different and slower angles since this happened, ones I can’t reproduce here, and he gets kneed in the head. Coaches said in the moments and days after the game that’s the play that gave him his final concussion — but we never got an answer for what happened or what did not happen at halftime and how he was able to start the second half and play a series and then go get checked out in the locker room.

I guess the concern is that it didn’t look devastating, but that it still did damage. The accumulation effect of concussions is frightening, and after you have a few, the next few come easier. Five is a lot. Five in 14 months is scary.

We never saw Trickett play after his interception early in the second half, and I bet the fact his past play is a turnover will drive him crazy