Former NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever playing football

[DaKCMan AP]

Former NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever playing football

Former Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El is perhaps best remembered for his 43-yard touchdown pass in Super Bowl XL that aided a Pittsburgh win over Seattle, but a decade later, the physical and mental drawbacks have been so significant that he regrets ever playing in the NFL.

“If I could go back, I wouldn’t” play football, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a Steelers-themed project posted Tuesday. “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, who played in Washington from 2006 to 2009 between two stints in Pittsburgh, said he regularly experiences trouble walking down stairs — “I have to come down sideways sometimes, depending on the day” — and has serious memory lapses.

“I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that,’ ” Randle El told the Post-Gazette. “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.”

In 2013, Randle El and three other former players filed a lawsuit against the NFL in a Manhattan federal court alleging the NFL “has done everything in its power to hide the issues and mislead players concerning the risks associated with concussions,” according to The Village Voice. In 2015, after that suit was consolidated with more than 2,000 others, he was one of more than 5,000 players that received more than $900 million in settlement money from the NFL to resolve a concussion lawsuit.

Since retiring in 2010, Randle El helped to found the Virginia Academy, a Christian high school in Ashburn, where he serves as the school’s athletic director. Originally, he was a proponent for the development of a football program at the school, but he has no remorse after it was cut two years in when it became too expensive.

“The kids are getting bigger and faster, so the concussions, the severe spinal cord injuries, are only going to get worse,” he said in the interview. “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.’

“There’s no correcting it. There’s no helmet that’s going to correct it. There’s no teaching that’s going to correct it. It just comes down to it’s a physically violent game. Football players are in a car wreck every week.”

Randle El is not naive to the profitability of the sport or the impact it has on society, but with the concussion and life-long injury issues getting more attention than ever before, the nine-year veteran thinks the end may be near.

“Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if football isn’t around in 20, 25 years.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ying-football/

[loochy]

“I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that,’

yeah I do that too, and I didn't play football

it happens when you are married

[Coochie liquor]

Originally Posted by loochy

yeah I do that too, and I didn't play football

it happens when you are married

Me too... Because I got high

[Iowanian]

I understand these guys take a beating, but I'm so over their whining.

There is a club for all of the men who only hear or remember half of the things our wives say...it's called "Everyone".

Football players make big money in relatively short careers, and often suffer injuries that cause them pain in later life.
....So do Construction workers, iron workers, Deep sea welders(lung issues from gas), rodeo cowboys, ranchers, farmers, factory workers with repetitive motion injuries....and they do it for far less money and work far more years.

Your dream was to play in the NFL. You've made at a minimum hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single season in the league.

I know a shitload of people who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, or have knees or backs that cause them problems.

I didn't play in the NFL and my hands swell, I've had knee surgeries and get swelling often, have had broken bones and back injuries that make some days pretty rough to get moving. So do a lot of other people and they're still going to work every day at 60 years old.

Stop bitching.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I understand these guys take a beating, but I'm so over their whining.

Football players make big money in relatively short careers, and often suffer injuries that cause them pain in later life.
There is a club for all of the men who only hear or remember half of the things our wives say...it's called "Everyone".

....So do Construction workers, iron workers, Deep sea welders(lung issues from gas), rodeo cowboys, ranchers, farmers, factory workers with repetitive motion injuries....and they do it for far less money and work far more years.

Your dream was to play in the NFL. You've made at a minimum hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single season in the league.

I know a shitload of people who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, or have knees or backs that cause them problems.

I didn't play in the NFL and my hands swell, I've had knee surgeries and get swelling often, have had broken bones and back injuries that make some days pretty rough to get moving. So do a lot of other people and they're still going to work every day at 60 years old.

Stop bitching.

Seriously

Don't act like you JUST NOW figured out that repeatedly getting hit in the head might cause some problems

[Iowanian]

I should go take a video of the old guy who owns our local feed store. He's probably outside shoveling snow or something right now. He looks like a gold mine collapsed on him and still works every day. Guy can't stand halfway straight up, looks like the letter r and still works in his 70s.

Most of the NFL players bitching about how terrible they had it, are doing so from a golf course somewhere warm, living in nice homes, and are basically retired by age 40.

[BlackHelicopters]

Front page even

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I should go take a video of the old guy who owns our local feed store. He's probably outside shoveling snow or something right now. He looks like a gold mine collapsed on him and still works every day. Guy can't stand halfway straight up, looks like the letter r and still works in his 70s.

Most of the NFL players bitching about how terrible they had it, are doing so from a golf course somewhere warm, living in nice homes, and are basically retired by age 40.

I was thinking the same thing. There's men out there who have worked harder jobs, for less pay, and for more years that have physical issues. Hell, go talk to a waitress with arthritis in most of her (or his) joints carrying endless trays of food.

Or how about the family of 4 (mom, dad and two kids) that are trying to make ends meet and working 4 jobs? Think they have some physical issues or total exhaustion?

No saying the NFL isn't a physical league with former players having long lasting issues but get over yourself. There are everyday people that deal with this stuff too.

To quote the immortal Tyler Durden; "You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. "

[BigRedChief]

I'm glad my son gave up football now. Pissed me off back then. His teammates got 22 football scholarships. He was only a sophomore but he was starting to show Division 1 talent. He wanted to do something with his brain. He's currently working towards a masters in Physics. Wants to to scientific research. He's probably going to have a better life from that choice.

[ChiefsCountry]

He is pissed because baseball players make more.

[Chromatic]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I should go take a video of the old guy who owns our local feed store. He's probably outside shoveling snow or something right now. He looks like a gold mine collapsed on him and still works every day. Guy can't stand halfway straight up, looks like the letter r and still works in his 70s.

I imagine he's doing that because he has to and can't afford to retire. If not, 99% of the people in his position are doing it out of necessity than out of pure work ethic.

Also, pointing out something else and saying "bu-but this guy over here is worse!" doesn't really cut it. Brain damage and CTE is a very real thing among people who have played football and when they're finding CTE among dead high school players, you know it's a problem that should be studied further.

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by Chromatic

I imagine he's doing that because he has to and can't afford to retire. If not, 99% of the people in his position are doing it out of necessity than out of pure work ethic.

Also, pointing out something else and saying "bu-but this guy over here is worse!" doesn't really cut it. Brain damage and CTE is a very real thing among people who have played football and when they're finding CTE among dead high school players, you know it's a problem that should be studied further.

Well, no shit he's doing it because he can't afford to retire. I think you missed the point.

[Chromatic]

Don't bitch because some people have it worse isn't really a good point, imo.

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by Chromatic

Don't bitch because some people have it worse isn't really a good point, imo.

I think it's an excellent point.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Chromatic

Don't bitch because some people have it worse isn't really a good point, imo.

so we can't whine about andy reid or the chiefs or axl smiff because browns?