Veteran wide receiver Antwaan Randle El will announce his retirement from the NFL during his skills training academy on July 14, Mike Nieto of The Times of Northwest Indiana reports, citing an email from Randle El's brother.
Randle El, who turns 33 in August, played quarterback at Indiana University before he was selected in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Randle El was moved to wide receiver and finishes his nine-year career with 370 receptions for 4,467 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The versatile Randle El also averaged 22.3 yards on 79 kick returns, with one touchdown, and 8.2 yards on 311 punt returns, scoring five touchdowns.
The Steelers took advantage of Randle El's background as a quarterback. In his five overall seasons in Black and Gold, Randle El completed 16-of-18 pass attempts for 170 yards with four of his six career touchdown passes. Randle El completed one of three pass attempts in the playoffs -- a 43-yard touchdown strike to Hines Ward in the Steelers' win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
Following that Super Bowl win, Randle El signed a seven-year, $31 million contract with the Washington Redskins. In four seasons in the nation's capital, Randle El started 48 of 63 games and caught 186 passes for 2,202 yards along with eight of his 15 career receiving touchdowns.
Randle El had a workout with the Detroit Lions last November 4, but he was not signed and spent the season out of football.
