Edwards can learn from Randle El

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El does not know Armanti Edwards, but he knows of him.

"He was the one that beat Michigan that year?" Randle El asked.

Yes, and the one trying to make the transition that Randle El did nine years ago, from decorated college quarterback to successful NFL wideout.

Edwards' victory with Appalachian State in Ann Arbor in 2007 put him on the radar, and his athleticism and upside prompted the Carolina Panthers to trade this year's second-round pick to draft him in the third round last April.

But if Edwards hopes to last as long as Randle El has in the league, he needs to commit to the position, study established receivers, put his nose in the playbook and stay in shape, the Steelers veteran said Tuesday at Super Bowl media day at Cowboys Stadium. The Steelers face the Green Bay Packers in Sunday's Super Bowl.

"The biggest challenge for me was just deciding to do it," said Randle El, who had played quarterback since his earliest days in youth leagues. "Once I decided to do it, that was it.

"You had people trying to say, 'You need to try to play quarterback,' and some people saying, 'You need to go play wide receiver.' I had to get to myself and say, 'Look, this is what I'm going to do, no matter what anybody else is saying.' Switching was good for me. It was the best thing for me."

Randle El signed with Indiana, where he did it all for the Hoosiers. Besides his quarterback duties, Randle El returned punts and lined up occasionally at receiver. He also made cameos on the Hoosiers' baseball and basketball teams.

But after earning All-Big Ten football honors as an all-purpose back, Randle El recognized his road to stardom.

"I had another opportunity to go pro and I knew I would get drafted pretty high coming in as a wide receiver. I wanted to get in the door," he said. "So certainly I wasn't going to bog that down [by] saying, 'Hey, I've got to be a quarterback.' I knew if I switched to wide receiver I had the ability to play [there]."

After Pittsburgh drafted Randle El in the second round in 2002, Bill Cowher used him in the same manner he utilized Kordell "Slash" Stewart early in his career, which is to say, everywhere.

Randle El was the Steelers' leading kick and punt returner as a rookie, finished third on the team in receiving, completed 7 of 8 passes and added 19 carries.

Former Panthers coach John Fox was not nearly as ambitious with Edwards, who played in three games as a rookie and did not make a catch. Edwards threw one pass (a completion that netted zero yards), ran once (for 7 yards) and had two punt returns in the season finale at Atlanta (a muff and an 11-yarder that was nullified by penalty).

Fox didn't need many reasons to play an established player over a rookie, and Edwards gave him a couple - showing up to training camp in questionable shape and turning every preseason punt return into an adventure.

Edwards admitted he did not realize the extent of the conditioning required of an NFL receiver.

"There's two things that will get you out of this league - not being in shape and not knowing the playbook," Randle El said. "And I know how he feels because you go from quarterback [where] you hand the ball off sometimes, run the fake, sometimes you drop back throwing the ball. You're not running nearly as much as a wide receiver. When I became a wide receiver, I could really attest to what it meant to be a wide receiver running all the time."

Randle El, 31, has done a lot of running over his nine NFL seasons. He has 370 receptions for nearly 4,500 yards, and six career returns for touchdowns.