Antwaan Randle El Says He Regrets Playing Football

Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El says that he regrets playing football, in part because of the physical toll it took on him. Randle El, 36, claims it has become difficult for him to walk down stairs sometimes.

“I have to come down sideways sometimes, depending on the day,” Randle El said in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story about former Steelers Super Bowl winners. “Going up is easier actually than coming down.”

However, in a follow-up interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, Randle El clarified that, despite the pain that makes this basic movement difficult, he is nowhere near death, as he feared the story described him.

The former wide receiver stated that he often feels acute pain in his knees, ankles, and feet when he walks around. Randle El was known for being a ‘hybrid player:’ he was an elite quarterback at Indiana before being drafted as a wide receiver for the Steelers in 2002. He was also an All-Pro in 2005, and became the only wideout to throw a TD pass in a Super Bowl in 2006.

Despite all of these accomplishments, he still wishes he had chosen another career path. “If I could go back, I wouldn’t,” he told he Post-Gazette. “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.”

Randle El also spoke on The Dan Patrick Show about the dangers of playing while injured. “And that’s one thing I want to be able to reach the young folks, the Pop Warner and even in high school and even in college that, ‘hey, if you get dinged, get nicked up and you get hurt, it’s OK to come out of the game. It’s OK to come out and get somebody in there,” he stated.

Randle El is married with six children, and started a foundation and a Christian school in Virginia. As for his final message to the youth, Randle El simply stated: “If you’re playing this game of football, you have to know what you’re getting yourself into.”