Before he was coaching up the Chicago Bears’ wide receivers, or held the same position with the Detroit Lions, and even before helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl in 2020, Antwaan Randle El was catching passes himself as an NFL wide receiver for nine years.
He spent five of those nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, across two stints, and won the Super Bowl following the 2005 regular season.
It was during that game that Randle El got to live out a dream he had had since childhood.
Bears’ Antwaan Randle El Gets Strong Words From Hines Ward
Ex-Steelers Teammate Hines Ward Gets Honest About Bears’ Antwaan Randle El
In documenting 61 players for a “weekly series entitled ‘I Scored a Touchdown,’ which “Spotlights the stories of players who reached the end zone on the Super Bowl stage,” ESPN’s Brooke Pryor quoted Randle El and the Bears coach’s former Steelers teammate, Hines Ward.
The story was about Ward, who scored the final touchdown in that Super Bowl, putting the Steelers up 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
However, Randle El, a former high school quarterback who fulfilled his dream, threw the pass.
Per Pryor, Randle El said he was “excited to hear the call come in and simply wanted to make sure he did not mess it up. The moment also meant a lot to Ward, who is nearly four years older than Randle El and entered the league four years prior.
“He was like my little bro, because he was a former quarterback at Indiana, and all his whole goal in life was to throw a touchdown in the NFL,” Ward said of his strong relationship with Randle El, per Pryor on May 24. “I also played quarterback, but I wanted to be on the receiving end.”
Ward won a second Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2008, while Randle El was playing in the NFC with Washington. Randle El would return for the 2010 season, his final as a player.
That moment, though, will live forever.
Ward was similarly nervous about messing up the play. But, similar to Randle El’s praise for his reception, he commended his play-making partner on the play for delivering a “laser” that went “right into the left pocket of my shirt.”
Antwaan Randle El Brings Unique Perspective to Bears WR Room
Randle El’s success as a receiver at the NFL level adds to his credibility with the players he now coaches, many of whom have cited it among the many things he brings to the table for the Bears (and, obviously, his other stops).
He is one of several former NFL players on the Bears’ staff under head coach Ben Johnson.
The list includes Al Harris (defensive backs/CBs & defensive pass game coordinator) and J.T. Barrett (quarterbacks), Jim Dray (tight ends), Matt Giordano (safeties), and several assistants.
He is the only one who has thrown a pass in the NFL during a regular-season or playoff game.
For his career, Randle El went 22-for-27 (81.5% completion) for 323 yards and 6 touchdowns, never throwing an interception, and that was just in the regular season. He posted a 43-1-0 line on 33.3% completion in his postseason career.
That experience, plus his background as a collegiate QB, gives Randle El invaluable insight that he can relay to his pupils.
It is no wonder he was named the Bears’ assistant head coach upon his defection from Detroit.
