He is nothing if not a good sport.
His teammates can razz him in that way they have when they’re dealing with rookies. And that’s OK. He gets it. His coach can jut out his chin and give him that look and no problem, he can laugh if off. They can even re-make him into a wide receiver, a position he never envisioned himself playing after a college career in which he was one of the best quarterbacks in the country and, hey, who is he to complain?
Well, for starters, he has become, in one short year, one of the most promising rookies in the NFL, a multidimensional talent for the Pittsburgh Steelers who was being called a second-round steal after one mini-camp and a star after one playoff game.
But former Thornton High and Indiana standout Antwaan Randle El is not about to start developing to big ego now.
“I’ve been blessed,” he said Sunday after his 66-yard punt return for a touchdown, a critical pass completion for a two-point conversion and 193 all-purpose yards in Pittsburgh’s 36-33 come-from-behind AFC wild-card victory over the Cleveland Browns.
Naturally, Randle El was asked again if he ever missed playing quarterback after his perfect pass to tight end Jerame Tuman–his seventh completion in eight pass attempts this season on a variety of gadget plays–gave the Steelers their first and last lead of the game.
“Being in the NFL, this is my dream and to get here and complain about something I can’t even control, no,” he said. “I made a decision in December or January before the draft, that `Hey, know what? I’m not going to be drafted as a quarterback, so I’m going to go out and work as a receiver.’
“I fell in love with the position, being able to make plays, being able to catch the ball. If I didn’t have the ability to play it, then it would be different. But I’ve been blessed with some talent that I can go out and play the position.”
That he can, as well as a few others. With 47 catches for 489 yards; 990 punt and kickoff return yards combined, including a 99-yard kickoff return for a score at Cincinnati; 19 rushes for 134 yards; and 45 passing yards, Randle El led the Steelers this season with 1,658 all-purpose yards.
When Randle El fumbled a Chris Gardocki punt in the second quarter at the Steelers’ 32-yard line Sunday, setting up a Browns touchdown and 14-0 lead on the next play, Steelers coach Bill Cowher was never asked if he considered taking the rookie out. But he answered anyway.
“You don’t take him out,” Cowher said. “No one felt worse than he did. The guy’s a playmaker, a football player and I can’t say enough about him. I have a lot, a lot of confidence in Randle El. I never thought about taking him out.”
Randle El fumbled two punt returns during the regular season, against Atlanta and Houston, but he also has made a habit, as he did Sunday, of amending his mistakes.
“He’s the type of guy, he’ll make up for stuff like that,” Steelers guard Kendall Simmons said. “He wipes the slate clean.”
“He’s still a rook, we call him `rook,'” said Hines Ward, who, together with Plaxico Burress and Randle El, form one of the league’s most formidable group of receivers. “But with a game like he had [Sunday] and the atmosphere, he learned a lot from it. He stepped up big in a big game.”
Asked if he was afraid his bobble on the 20-yard line following a 6-yard completion at the start of the fourth quarter would be ruled a fumble, Randle El showed a rookie’s spunk.
“No, I knew I was down, I wasn’t afraid at all,” he said. “From the jump, I kept telling coach `Hey, throw the red flag because I was down,’ and he looked at me with his chin out and that kind of thing, but I thank God that I was down.”
Considered too small to play quarterback in the pros at 5 feet 9 inches, 185 pounds, Randle El was drafted out of Indiana to be Pittsburgh’s slot receiver.
But unlike teammate Kordell Stewart, who played his first several games at wide receiver before returning to quarterback where he was originally drafted, Randle El tries not to harbor unrealistic expectations. At the same time, it is clear he has not entirely given up on the idea of playing quarterback.
“It’s not a burning desire to play that position,” he said. “If they need me to play it, I know I can do it and I’ll keep that as something in my little stash if they need me to go out there. I’ll never get away from it just because I love it and I know the opportunity will come along sooner or later, but that’s not my focus. My focus is to play wide receiver and make plays.”
Considering the number of plays he has already made in his young career, doesn’t it feel, he was asked, like he’s a three- or four-year veteran by now? The rookie, who laughs easily at the good-natured ribbing from his veteran teammates, laughed again.
“I don’t care what they say, I ain’t a rookie no more,” he said. “That’s the approach I continue to take. They can call me a rookie and that kind of thing, but they expect me to go out there and make the same plays as the veterans make.
“So yeah, put the tag on me because it’s my first year but you can’t expect me to go out and play like that.”
