Don't expect Antwaan Randle El to do any NFL public service announcements anytime soon.
The nine-year NFL veteran wide receiver with the Steelers and Redskins says the sport simply is too violent to continue and believes the game of football has a limited shelf life.
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"Right now, I wouldn't be surprised if football isn't around in 20, 25 years," Randle El told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The former college quarterback revealed that he has memory issues and has pain walking down stairs, and he believes the plight of younger players is only going to get worse.
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"The kids are getting bigger and faster, so the concussions, the severe spinal cord injuries, are only going to get worse," he said. "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, now 36 years old, never reached the Pro Bowl, but he missed just one game in his nine seasons and was a starter for four years. He amassed 370 career receptions for 4,467 yards with 15 touchdowns during his two NFL stops.
His best years came with the Redskins; he had 51 receptions for a career-high 728 yards with one touchdown in 2007. In 2008, the wide receiver had a career-high 53 receptions for 593 yards with a career-high four touchdowns.
But Randle El now believes his best years would been better spent in baseball.
"If I could go back, I wouldn't," Randle El said. "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."
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