Antwaan Randle El

Antwaan Randle El (born August 17, 1979 in Riverdale, Illinois) is a wide receiver and punt returner for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. A quarterback in college, he is also occasionally called on to pass on trick plays, most notably in Super Bowl XL in which he threw a pass for a touchdown.

High school

Randle El attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. He starred at football, basketball and baseball. He was a high school teammate of current Minnesota Vikings linebacker Napoleon Harris. He was selected in the MLB First Year Player Draft in 1997 by the Chicago Cubs (424th overall), but elected to attend Indiana University.

College career

Randle El was a quarterback at Indiana University, where he was considered one of the premier offensive threats in the Big Ten Conference and received some consideration for the Heisman Trophy (coming in 6th in Heisman voting) during his senior season. Randle El was the first player in Division I history to pass for 40 career touchdowns and score 40 career touchdowns. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2001, and was named the first-team All-American quarterback by the Football Writers Association of America. He finished his college career as the fifth on the all-time NCAA total yardage list, and became the first player in college football history to record 2,500 total yards for four consecutive years. He finished his career with 7,469 passing yards, 3,895 rushing yards, and 86 touchdowns running and passing. He is considered to be the most statistically productive dual-threat quarterback to ever play college football. He was drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft in 2002 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL Career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Subsequently, the Steelers moved him to the receiver position. Together with Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress, he made up part of what was widely regarded as one of the top wide receiver corps in the NFL, although Burress has since left the Steelers for the New York Giants. Additionally, the Steelers made him their top kickoff returner through the 2004-2005 season, and their top punt returner since he joined the team. His quarterback experience allowed the Steelers to use him as a passer in a variety of trick plays, most notably a game-clinching 43-yard fake reverse touchdown pass to Hines Ward in Super Bowl XL. He was the third non-quarterback and the first receiver to throw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.

Washington Redskins

On March 12, 2006, he signed a seven-year, $31 million deal to play for the Washington Redskins.^*

Miscellaneous

As might be surmised from his name, Randle El is descended from a family with connections to the Black Muslims, although Antwaan is a devout Christian and says he puts his faith before anything.

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