Former NFL Star Randle El To Discuss Ethical Issues in Sports at Marymount Feb. 6

Former Washington Redskins wide receiver Antwaan Randle El will discuss ethical issues impacting intercollegiate and professional sports from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6 at Marymount University’s Reinsch Auditorium, 2807 North Glebe Road. The free event is part of Marymount’s Annual Ethics Week and is sponsored by the School of Business Administration. The public is invited to attend.

“Football is a violent sport and society often turns a blind eye to that aspect of it,” said Dr. Brian Doyle, director of Marymount’s Center for Ethical Concerns, who will moderate the event. “He has a unique perspective on what extended play at that level can have on an athlete’s physical and emotional life.”

Doyle praised Randle El, now the athletic director at Virginia Academy, for helping found the K-12 private Christian school in Ashburn and for his work at The EL Foundation, a charity that helps underserved children.

“It’s interesting to me how he’s used his success in the world of sports to help others,” Doyle said.

Randle El began his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was the first wide receiver to throw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl. At Indiana University, the Chicago native was a record-setting quarterback, played basketball for legendary Hoosier Coach Bobby Knight, and was on the baseball team. In high school, Randal El had been drafted by Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs but decided to pursue his education instead.

Last year, he told a reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that if he had to do it over, he would have played professional baseball, a story that gained widespread attention because of increased reporting on football-related concussions. When a Sports Illustrated writer recently spent time with him at Virginia Academy, Randle El stressed that he didn’t regret playing football but that if he had chosen professional baseball, he would still be playing today.

Marymount University is an independent, coeducational Catholic university offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide range of disciplines.

Photo caption
Antwaan Randle El