Former NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever playing football

[Prime Time]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...waan-randle-el-regrets-ever-playing-football/

DC Sports Bog
Former NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever playing football
By Jacob Emert

Antwaan Randle El makes a first down while playing with the Redskins in 2009.

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.”

 

[Pancake]

I feel for these guys who suffer after they leave the game but it's a well known risk to play football. I do agree with Randle El's description that it is like being in a car wreck every Sunday for them. But at the end of the day they have to choose between money and fame or long term health. If you want to be able to walk around without pain when you get past 40 then don't play football. If your worried about the long term effects of concussions on your brain then don't play football.

 

[fearsomefour]

Easy to say once one has retired and has made a couple dozen million dollars or so....I don't know what he made but I know he had $11.5M in bonus money he was paid with his Washington contract.
At any rate, I get what he is saying. I know two ex NFL'ers....one is dealing with constant joint pain and has already had one knee replaced despite playing three or so years in the NFL. The other one doesn't complain much (these are tough people) but he may have some issues also.
Horrible, tragic injuries and death do occur, that is terrible. However, looking at things logically, football is so far down the list of risks kids face as to be almost a non factor.
NFL games are probably like a car wreck every Sunday....average high school games are not. Smaller kids playing a slower game.
He may end up being right at the youth level and that would be ok with me, just seems a little self serving preaching this after he is out of the game.

 

[LACHAMP46]

I played 7-8 years of football...probably woulda played more if I'd kept my grades right. I'm stiff sometimes, joint pain, and pretty bad with names...and if I coulda at least got a free college education, I wouldn't bitch about the game I love. Everybody has their own sacrifices... Hell, ask a coal miner if he regrets his career decision? As long as he can provide for his family, and can give his kids a better life than he had, he came out ahead.
Sometimes...well, most times, it's not about YOU.
@fearsomefour
you need to see some really high level HS games....They have serious collisions in pop warner out here.... I still remember some kids that hit like grown ass men @ 11 years old.... LOL

 

[OntarioRam]

CTE is very real. It is not some boogeyman anti-football folks have cooked up to hurt the game. It is a valid concern with scientific evidence to back it up. And the odds of developing it are not what one could fairly call statistically insignificant.

There is no way I would let my kid play football in his tender years. Not while the brain is still extra vulnerable and years away from becoming fully developed. Knocking brains around at 5, 6, 7, 8 years old is ridiculous.

Here in Canada, kids do not start hitting in hockey until they are 13 or 14 years old (the 'bantam' age group; whether they are 13 or 14 when hitting starts will depend on their month of birth). They can play in the CHL as young as 16 (Canadian Junior Hockey League - this is where the NHL gets most of its Canadian drafts prospects from), where hitting goes on full force.

So.... in hockey.... a kid has 2 or 3 years of hitting experience before playing at the level before that of professional sports. Yet, hitting in the CHL (and NHL for that matter) has not suffered at all as a result. The product is the exact same. Clearly, these time-frames are giving young hockey players enough time to learn how hit (and just as important, if not more important, learn how to *get hit*) properly.

In NCAA football, players start as young as 18. I don't see why football would not be the same as hockey in this regard. 2-3 years should be enough time to learn how to hit, without any on-field product suffering. I would not let kids hit in football before age 15-16.

Added bonus: by 15-16 a kid is likely old enough to make his own decisions after being educated as to the possible consequences. Not so when a 5 year old simply wants to be like his hero on TV.

I am now prepared to be flamed for this post.

 

[Faceplant]

I think football will change pretty drastically over the next 10 years, but I don't think it goes away. There are rules they can enact that should mitigate a lot of the head trauma...but never completely. As long as it remains a contact sport, there will always be injuries. I tend to think they can reduce those injuries to be comparable (in severity) to the NHL. Will that be good enough? Who knows....

 

[Selassie I]

I played 7-8 years of football...probably woulda played more if I'd kept my grades right. I'm stiff sometimes, joint pain, and pretty bad with names...and if I coulda at least got a free college education, I wouldn't bitch about the game I love. Everybody has their own sacrifices... Hell, ask a coal miner if he regrets his career decision? As long as he can provide for his family, and can give his kids a better life than he had, he came out ahead.
Sometimes...well, most times, it's not about YOU.
@fearsomefour
you need to see some really high level HS games....They have serious collisions in pop warner out here.... I still remember some kids that hit like grown ass men @ 11 years old.... LOL

After reading your post it made me think about how long I played. I started playing tackle football at age 7 and continued playing all the way through HS. That's 12 years according to my demented math. Back when I started playing in the early 70's they didn't have many of the protections in place that they do now... but I loved playing.

I gladly allowed all 3 of my sons to play too.

At least I now can explain to my wife why I seem to forget things she tells me to do after reading this article. I can't wait to tell her tonight that it's not because I'm tuning her out... it's because of football. LOL She ain't gonna buy it though.

 

[Prime Time]

Played JV football in high school for one year. Lots of baseball, soccer, tennis, and martial arts though. Sports, along with car and motorcycle accidents, ass kickings, etc. led to at least 3 verified concussions plus a multitude of other injuries. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not in pain in some area of my body.

If I could go back and do it again I would participate in every sport even with what I know now. What's the point of living a life that's totally centered around avoiding pain and playing it safe?

 

[OnceARam]

Played JV football in high school for one year. Lots of baseball, soccer, tennis, and martial arts though. Sports, along with car and motorcycle accidents, ass kickings, etc. led to at least 3 verified concussions plus a multitude of other injuries. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not in pain in some area of my body.

If I could go back and do it again I would participate in every sport even with what I know now. What's the point of a living a life that's totally centered around avoiding pain and playing it safe?

I agree. There is no replacement for being tested via competitive sport. The lessons learned last a lifetime. And the ensuing strength of character it builds is just not comparable to anything else.

 

[fearsomefour]

I played 7-8 years of football...probably woulda played more if I'd kept my grades right. I'm stiff sometimes, joint pain, and pretty bad with names...and if I coulda at least got a free college education, I wouldn't bitch about the game I love. Everybody has their own sacrifices... Hell, ask a coal miner if he regrets his career decision? As long as he can provide for his family, and can give his kids a better life than he had, he came out ahead.
Sometimes...well, most times, it's not about YOU.
@fearsomefour
you need to see some really high level HS games....They have serious collisions in pop warner out here.... I still remember some kids that hit like grown ass men @ 11 years old.... LOL

I'm involved with Pop Warner every year, the last two years with a team that made it to a national championship game.
There can be hard hits.
It's not the same generally, not close.
The risk from football is real....but small compared to other things.

 

[LACHAMP46]

but small compared to other things.

Like skateboards & soccer.... I totally agree.
It's all relative really....I've seen kids get knocked out...I've seen adults get knocked out....Whats the difference? The brain still is traumatized...and probably has the micro-tears/bleeds....

 

[Loyal]

I am sorry to hear that Randal El is suffering the afteraffects of playing in the NFL...But his reasoning is somewhat faulty. He infers that he easily could have made it in the Major Leagues..Like Michael Jordan did? Not everyone is Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders, so its easy to say "I could have played a different pro sport at a high level with less injury , longer career for more money." Most likely the choices were: 1) PLay in the NFL, my best option at success with a chance of injury. 2) Get drafted by MLB, and play in the minors unti I get tired of that life and get a real job. 3) Pay for my own college degree and be a regular Joe Blow (most people don't graduate college that attempt it) and have little risk of injury.

I don't live his life so I don't know exactly what he goes through. I do know that if I had the chance to catch a Super Bowl winning pass, and play in the NFL period..I would take that chance, even if I ended up like Randle El. JMHO.

 

[fearsomefour]

Like skateboards & soccer.... I totally agree.
It's all relative really....I've seen kids get knocked out...I've seen adults get knocked out....Whats the difference? The brain still is traumatized...and probably has the micro-tears/bleeds....

Like skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, riding a dirt bike, BMX and in particular driving or riding in a car. One of my sons friends who was a pretty good high school athlete is now a bull rider in college....now, there are some serious people about accepted risk.
I agree injury is injury. However, a group of kids who weigh 70 lbs and are not able to move very fast are not going to (generally) generate the injury risk of kids who are in puberty, weight 160 lbs and can move quickly just as those kids won't generate the forces a 240 lb world class athlete will. It is one of the things that makes head injury so bad....you can't really train to avoid it in terms of added strength ect. At any rate, we basically agree.
I have seen more kids knocked out playing basketball than I have football if you are talking about being out cold.
What does it all mean, personal experience? Not much.
There is accepted risk and that sort of sucks. I hate seeing anyone injured. Better coaching, limiting contact and practice time ect and starting tackle football later are all thing I would support to help protect kids.

 

[Zaphod]

CTE is very real. It is not some boogeyman anti-football folks have cooked up to hurt the game. It is a valid concern with scientific evidence to back it up. And the odds of developing it are not what one could fairly call statistically insignificant.

There is no way I would let my kid play football in his tender years. Not while the brain is still extra vulnerable and years away from becoming fully developed. Knocking brains around at 5, 6, 7, 8 years old is ridiculous.

Here in Canada, kids do not start hitting in hockey until they are 13 or 14 years old (the 'bantam' age group; whether they are 13 or 14 when hitting starts will depend on their month of birth). They can play in the CHL as young as 16 (Canadian Junior Hockey League - this is where the NHL gets most of its Canadian drafts prospects from), where hitting goes on full force.

So.... in hockey.... a kid has 2 or 3 years of hitting experience before playing at the level before that of professional sports. Yet, hitting in the CHL (and NHL for that matter) has not suffered at all as a result. The product is the exact same. Clearly, these time-frames are giving young hockey players enough time to learn how hit (and just as important, if not more important, learn how to *get hit*) properly.

In NCAA football, players start as young as 18. I don't see why football would not be the same as hockey in this regard. 2-3 years should be enough time to learn how to hit, without any on-field product suffering. I would not let kids hit in football before age 15-16.

Added bonus: by 15-16 a kid is likely old enough to make his own decisions after being educated as to the possible consequences. Not so when a 5 year old simply wants to be like his hero on TV.

I am now prepared to be flamed for this post.

Hockey to me is just an incredibly fun game to play, but wow is it hard on your body too.

I have to blame it on martial arts as well too, don't get me wrong, I'm not putting the game down, and to be honest you never know what's going to happen to you in life anyway as plenty of people get hurt outside of any sport.

 

[LesBaker]

I am sorry to hear that Randal El is suffering the afteraffects of playing in the NFL...But his reasoning is somewhat faulty. He infers that he easily could have made it in the Major Leagues..Like Michael Jordan did? Not everyone is Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders, so its easy to say "I could have played a different pro sport at a high level with less injury , longer career for more money." Most likely the choices were: 1) PLay in the NFL, my best option at success with a chance of injury. 2) Get drafted by MLB, and play in the minors unti I get tired of that life and get a real job. 3) Pay for my own college degree and be a regular Joe Blow (most people don't graduate college that attempt it) and have little risk of injury.

I don't live his life so I don't know exactly what he goes through. I do know that if I had the chance to catch a Super Bowl winning pass, and play in the NFL period..I would take that chance, even if I ended up like Randle El. JMHO.

He played football, basketball and baseball at Indiana so he has to be one heck of an athlete..........

 

[LesBaker]

Like skateboards & soccer.... I totally agree.
It's all relative really....I've seen kids get knocked out...I've seen adults get knocked out....Whats the difference? The brain still is traumatized...and probably has the micro-tears/bleeds....

There is no proof that skateboarding is dangerous.

 

[Loyal]

He played football, basketball and baseball at Indiana so he has to be one heck of an athlete..........

Didn't say that he wasn't. I would say Michael Jordan was too, and he failed at baseball...Out of all the pro athletes in my memory, only Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders have done two pro sports well..Maybe Jim Thorpe a long time ago? My point was just that Randle El said he probably should have played baseball, doesn't mean hw ould have been successful at it (highest level)

 

[Mikey Ram]

Speaking of receivers, I just read that the Whiners signed a hot-shot guy out of the CFL...Weren't the Rams looking at a guy from the North ???...Maybe it was a poster here who mentioned this guy ...Can't remember which it was...

 

[LesBaker]

Didn't say that he wasn't. I would say Michael Jordan was too, and he failed at baseball...Out of all the pro athletes in my memory, only Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders have done two pro sports well..Maybe Jim Thorpe a long time ago? My point was just that Randle El said he probably should have played baseball, doesn't mean hw ould have been successful at it (highest level)

I don't think Jordan played any other sports at a top college program though, A.R.E. played three which is pretty remarkable IMO. And he wasn't talking about playing two sports, he was opining that had he picked baseball over football he would probably still be playing because the toll on the body is so radically different.

 

[fearsomefour]

Didn't say that he wasn't. I would say Michael Jordan was too, and he failed at baseball...Out of all the pro athletes in my memory, only Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders have done two pro sports well..Maybe Jim Thorpe a long time ago? My point was just that Randle El said he probably should have played baseball, doesn't mean hw ould have been successful at it (highest level)

I don't believe for a minute Jordan was playing baseball for any other reason than he was suspended from the NBA for gambling.
I agree Randle El is a bit delusional about playing baseball. Easier to get drafted into baseball, harder to make the MLB.