Antwaan Randle El throws a 43-yard touchdown pass in Super Bowl XL. If he had to go back and do it all again, he said he wouldn’t play football. – Associated Press file photo

by J. Brady McCollough | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Ten years after he threw one of the most-celebrated passes in Steelers history, Antwaan Randle El has trouble walking down stairs.

“‘I have to come down sideways sometimes, depending on the day,’ Randle El, 36, said. ‘Going up is easier actually than coming down.’

“Randle El was an electric athlete, versatile enough to run a route on one play and throw a beautiful spiral on the next, as he did in Super Bowl XL when he found Hines Ward for a 43-yard touchdown on a wide receiver reverse pass. That his body has begun to betray him before his 40th birthday is hard to fathom. The crazy thing is that Randle El can feel his mind slipping, too.

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

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