Parents' tough love paved way for Randle El's success

And, of course, the rule that inspired the whole set: demonstrate your love. Without that one, who knows where Antwaan Randle El would be today• Certainly not in Pittsburgh, where he is a folk hero waiting to happen. The 5-foot-9, 184-pound Randle El is quick to engage people off the field and quick to avoid them on it with an assortment of lightning-quick moves that could raise goose bumps on a corpse.

He drew the loudest cheers Thursday at Heinz Field, when he made a couple of eye-opening plays in the Steelers' preseason opener. His parents and two brothers — including Marcus, 16 — were seated in Section 138 cheering him on.

The best part was, Antwaan knew his family would be there for him after the game. Just like always.

“When you drop a pass or don't make that big play, and everybody counts you out, mom and dad are there to pick you up,” he said. “Don't get me wrong. If something's wrong, you always call on God for help. But your family, that's the real deal.”

Sacrifice

Laughter and outward displays of affection balanced the discipline in Antwaan Randle El's house.

“If we didn't show that we loved each other, then the boys would not know how to give love,” said Jackie Randle El, a practicing Christian who gave the household its spiritual base. “A lot of people don't know how to give love, because they didn't see it when they were little.”

The Randle El boys saw it every day in their father, whose forefathers added the “El” to Randle when they converted to Islam (the Randle Els kept the name when they embraced Christianity). Curtis Sr. gave up his dream of a college sports career because he needed to support his children. He did so by loading trucks on the overnight shift.

Often, the elder Randle El drove his boys to their weekend sporting events immediately upon finishing a shift. He rarely missed a game or practice. He would tell his sons that a good attitude, a clean record and a good personality would carry them.

“I wanted my boys to stay in school and stay out of trouble,” Curtis Sr. said. “My friends used to say, ‘I remember you punching in so tired all the time.' Well, it paid off.”

Curtis Sr. made sure he was there when his sons came home from school each day. He helped them with their homework while his wife — an avid runner and softball player — was at work. She operates a daycare center.

Curtis Sr. took his boys to practice at 5:30 p.m., then carted them home for dinner.

The Randle Els always had dinner together.

“It might only be 30-40 minutes, but you can find out a lot about your children in that time,” Jackie said. “You find how school was, how they felt, if you might have done something wrong with them. If we would just get back to the basics in this country, and how God intended our life to be, a lot of the bad things wouldn't happen.”

Before long, the Randle El boys were known as outstanding, three-sport athletes who wanted no part of street life, save for Antwaan's occasional run-ins with the neighborhood bullies. Gang members left them alone.

“They didn't even try to include us in what they were doing, because they knew our character,” Curtis Jr. said.

By the time he graduated from Thornton Township High School, Antwaan Randle El was a hot commodity. He could dunk a basketball just as easily as he could toss a 50-yard bomb or chase down a sinking line drive. He received scholarship offers to play football, baseball and basketball.

What intrigued him most was an offer to play minor-league baseball for the hometown Chicago Cubs, who'd drafted him in the 14th round in 1997.

His mother wouldn't have it.

“The money and stuff was good,” Jackie recalled. “But I told him, ‘Being a young black kid, there's already a strike against you. Education is the best thing. You go to college, get your degree and you'll be worth money.' ”

Randle El has a four-year, $2.3 million contract with the Steelers. He bagged a $930,000 signing bonus.

Blood brothers

The knife that sunk four inches into Curtis Jr.'s abdomen left him unconscious and near death as he lay in a Bloomington, In., hospital. His younger brother never left his side.

“When I woke up, his face was first the one I saw,” Curtis Jr. said. “I didn't think I was going to make it. He had so much poise, telling me to be calm.”

The two are separated by less than a year. Curtis Jr. was Antwaan's protector back in Riverdale, where Antwaan liked to antagonize the biggest boys in the neighborhood. Curtis Jr. never understood why Antwaan was so hyper. He just knew it was his job to make peace when little brother started buzzing.

They both liked baseball best. One would play center field, the other left field. They also were teammates on a powerful Thornton High School football team that included future NFL players Ty Streets, Jermaine Hampton, Napolean Harris and Jack Golden (incredibly, that group did not win a state championship).

“When you saw one, you saw the other,” recalled Bill Mosel, Thornton's football coach.

Both boys accepted scholarship offers from Indiana, largely because they wanted their father to be able to attend their games. Curtis Jr. played baseball and football before settling in as a cornerback on the football team. Antwaan arrived in Bloomington a year after his brother and played baseball, basketball and football before concentrating on football and academics.

They roomed together. Curtis wore No. 10, Antwaan No. 11.

But their storybook college careers were interrupted in late March of 2000, when Curtis Jr. “stepped between a teammate and another guy” and took a knife in the gut.

He narrowly escaped death. He figured there was no way he'd play football his senior year.

Antwaan, who wasn't present at the incident, felt awful. He couldn't concentrate at spring practice. Acting on instinct, he reverted to his parents' golden rule. He demonstrated love toward his brother in any way he could.

Antwaan brought oranges and other soft foods to the hospital every day. When Curtis Jr. was released, Antwaan took it upon himself to design his brother's rehab program and participate in it every day. Curtis Jr. said the Indiana coaches had little input.

The brothers would run hills together, time themselves in sprints, play catch and pound weights.

“If it was me, he would have done the same thing,” Antwaan said. “That's the way it's supposed to be. I mean, that's my brother. That's my right-hand man. It's just how we were brought up – love one another, take care of one another.”

Curtis Jr. amazed everyone when he returned to play a full Big Ten schedule his senior year. He earned a degree in criminal justice. Antwaan left Indiana a year later with a degree in sports communications and broadcasting.

Giving back

Antwaan Randle El, who turns 23 on Saturday, speaks to each member of his family almost every day.

A slew of phone messages greet him in his St. Vincent College dorm room when he returns from practice at Steelers training camp. Most of them are from Curtis Jr., who calls for updates on Antwaan's transition from college quarterback to professional wide receiver.

The brothers soon will be reunited. Curtis Jr. recently quit his job as a white-collar fraud investigator in Indianapolis and plans to attend law school at Pitt.

Antwaan stays in close touch with his younger brother — who reputedly is the best athlete of the three — and is determined to see his father quit his job.

“I told him, ‘Don't pick up another box for nobody,' ” Antwaan said. “Maybe I'll get him a truck or something, and he can have people working for him.”

Antwaan only wishes that another close relative were with him — his 13-month old daughter, Ciara. She lives with Antwaan's ex-girlfriend in DeKalb, Ill. Antwaan said he maintains an amicable relationship with Ciara's mother, who is finishing college at Northern Illinois.

“In time, I'll have Ciara up here with me,” Antwaan said. “I really miss her.”

Jackie Randle El wasn't thrilled with the out-of-wedlock pregnancy. She didn't know quite what to do. As it turned out, there was nothing to do except revert to rule No. 1.

“When the baby was born, it was the best day,” Jackie said. “She is simply a doll. She has the attitude and personality of Antwaan Randle El.”

That, as Pittsburgh rapidly is discovering, can only be a good thing.