Antwaan Randle El played for nine NFL seasons, sandwiching in two stints with the Steelers with four seasons with the Washington Redskins.
Randle El was never a number one wideout, but he found a nice niche for himself as a slot receiver after playing quarterback in college at Indiana, and he famously threw for a touchdown pass in the Steelers’ 21-10 win over Seattle in Super Bowl XL.
Still, despite all of his success on the field, Randle El recently told The Pittsburgh Post Gazette that if he had to do it all again, he would never have pursued professional football.
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t play football, I would play baseball. I got drafted by the Cubs in the 14th round, but I didn’t play baseball because of my parents. They made me go to school. Don’t get me wrong, I love the game of football. But right now, I could still be playing baseball.”
The 36-year-old Randle El says that he has experienced health problems ever since retiring from the league in 2010, including severe memory loss.
“I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that.’ I’ll ask her three times the night before and get up in the morning and forget. Stuff like that. I try to chalk it up as I’m busy, I’m doing a lot, but I have to be on my knees praying about it, asking God to allow me to not have these issues and live a long life. I want to see my kids raised up. I want to see my grandkids.”
Those quotes are tough to read, especially in light of the recent attention being shined on the NFL’s concussion problem. Randle El was one of three players who sued the league in 2013 for misleading players about the potential health risks of concussions, and he was also one of the players included in the landmark concussion settlement by the league last year.
Football is the most popular sport in the country by a long shot, but if the NFL (as well as college, high school, and youth officials) continues to mishandle the issue, Randle El thinks the future of the sport is in serious jeopardy.
“The kids are getting bigger and faster, so the concussions, the severe spinal cord injuries, are only going to get worse. It’s a tough pill to swallow because I love the game of football. But I tell parents, ‘You can have the right helmet, the perfect pads on, and still end up with a paraplegic kid.'”
“Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if football isn’t around in 20, 25 years.”
