The strangest part is not that Alex Smith was twice knocked wobbly, had a gashed ear and a swelling of clotted blood behind the ear, and still somehow managed to pass the NFL's concussion testing.
The strangest part is not that the Chiefs announced his concussion diagnosis during the game ... then coach Andy Reid said there was no concussion after game ... then he was corrected by a spokesman that there was a concussion ... and then the team trainer spoke directly to media on Monday and said there was no concussion.
And the strangest part is not that Smith's head bounced off the turf hard, twice, each time leaving him obviously dazed, glassy eyed and needing help to his feet _ but was still apparently passed through the NFL's concussion testing.
No. None of that is the strangest part.
The strangest part is that any of us see that brief in-game testing as anything other than guesswork about potentially damaged brains. The NFL, in its own protocol, says that athletes with concussions can pass the tests partly because, by definition, the in-game testing is brief.
To put it as plainly as possible: Doctors using this test to determine whether a man has a concussion cannot know whether that man has a concussion.
But off he goes anyway, back into the violent chaos of an NFL game, his potentially damaged brain made more vulnerable to what has been scientifically shown to be exponentially worse damage.
So, when doctors make what amount to educated guesses here, how confident can they be?
"I think it's a great question," Chiefs head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder said. "I can't shed light on that."
This is the worst part. This is not a criticism of Burkholder, or the Chiefs, or the so-called independent neurologists who administer the in-game tests. They are doing their best, and doing their job.
This is a direct criticism of the NFL, which has been shamefully slow to address head injuries, and is trying its best to promote a fundamentally inadequate protocol as some sort of reliable diagnosis of potential damage to human brains.
It is medical theater, effective only in providing a facade of safety, and giving coaches and players something to put trust in while the show goes on.
When a player is so obviously dazed, and loses balance, what's wrong with holding him out for the rest of a football game so medical experts can do a more serious and thorough examination?
Look, Smith, Spencer Ware, and every other player who goes through the testing is well aware of the potential long-term damage that football can cause. There can be no more we-didn't-know claims from players.
But the problems here stretch beyond even the frightening reality that the NFL's make-believe protocol gives the impression to lower levels that concussions can be diagnosed on the sideline between series.
Because it's not just that the system is attempting to solve a problem that everyone involved admits cannot be solved. It's that the system is acting as a crutch in an environment where the incentive is for the player to be cleared.
Nobody knows this better than Smith. He's only here in Kansas City, after all, because he lost his job in San Francisco after a concussion in 2012.
Smith has said he has no regrets of being up-front about his symptoms there _ "you only have one brain," is the line he uses _ but players around the league saw and still view his departure as a warning.
The 49ers lost the Super Bowl by five yards the season Smith was replaced by Colin Kaepernick, and Smith believes it would've been a better ending had he been allowed to start again after recovering from the concussion. But that's a hypothetical, and besides, Smith now has another chance and a $17 million per year contract in Kansas City.
The problem _ and everyone in the league office knows this _ is that the rules are different for quarterbacks and non-stars. Maybe Smith can be more honest, because he knows that if it means fewer opportunities in the league, he has already made tens of millions of dollars and teams are always looking for quarterbacks.
But what about when that decision is presented to a lineman, or a backup, or a special-teams gunner?
This is why players have been known to tank their baseline tests before the season, to give themselves a lower bar to clear if and when they go through the in-game protocol. Tamba Hali, just to use one example, said he's never taken the in-game test because "then they get a gauge on you."
Which is only part of why the NFL knows its testing and protocol sometimes clears concussions in players who actually have concussions.
We don't know if that happened with Smith either time he took the test on Sunday. The doctors don't know either.
And that's the most important part of this whole confusing, frustrating and potentially dangerous situation.
