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Former Steelers WR Antwaan Randle El regrets football career

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There’s yet another cautionary tale for those dreaming of a career playing football.

Antwaan Randle El — a former receiver with Pittsburgh and Washington who famously threw a 43-yard TD pass in Super Bowl XL — said he regrets playing the game given how mentally and physically damaged he is now, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“I ask my wife things over and over again, and she’s like, ‘I just told you that,'” the 36-year-old said to the newspaper. “I’ll ask her three times the night before and get up in the morning and forget.”

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This image is only available in Getty Images offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany (Austria, Switzerland via Germany) and Australia.DAVID MAXWELL/AFP/Getty Images

Antwaan Randle El won a ring and made over $22 million in the NFL — but at what cost?

If the memory loss wasn’t bad enough, the former world-class athlete also admitted to struggling with a most basic physical activity — walking down steps.

“I have to come down sideways sometimes, depending on the day,” he told the paper. “Going up is easier actually than coming down.”

A dual-threat quarterback at Indiana University who finished sixth in the 2001 Heisman race, Randle El was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. His career earnings in the league totaled more than $22 million, according to spotrac.com.

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After four seasons in Pittsburgh, Randle El played four more in Washington before returning to the Steelers in 2010, his last season in the NFL.John Froschauer/AP

After four seasons in Pittsburgh, Randle El played four more in Washington before returning to the Steelers in 2010, his last season in the NFL.

But looking back now, he said he wishes he’d have pursed a baseball career. The Chicago Cubs took him in the 14th round of the 1997 MLB Draft out of Thornton (Ill.) High School.

“I didn’t play baseball because of my parents,” he told the paper. “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.”

It’s unclear if Randle El has CTE, the degenerative brain disease found in more and more former football players that results from repeated trauma to the head and can be diagnosed only after death.

But his memory loss aligns with the symptoms, and might cause current NFL stars to think twice about continuing their careers.

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He is the only receiver to throw a TD in Super Bowl history.DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP

He is the only receiver to throw a TD in Super Bowl history.

Some already have, with the San Francisco 49ers being particularly hard-hit by early retirements last offseason. Chris Borland (age 24) and Patrick Willis (30) both called it quits, while Anthony Davis (25) took the 2016 season off to “let his brain and body heal” — though he does plan to return.

“It just comes down to it’s a physically violent game. Football players are in a car wreck every week,” Randle El told the Post-Gazette.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if football isn’t around in 20, 25 years.”

memery@nydailynews.com

Tags:
antwaan randle el ,
nfl ,
sports concussions ,
sports injuries

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