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Monday, January 06, 2003

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

His boxers were inside out. Then he started pulling on the wrong gray T-shirt. Yes, even after the game, Antwaan Randle El was screwing up.

	Antwaan Randle El slides into the end zone after scoring on a 66-yard punt return in the second quarter against the Browns yesterday in the AFC wild-card game at Heinz Field. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

In between fumbling a second-quarter punt return and fumbling his own haberdashery, he looked picture perfect to the Steelers.

Pitcher perfect, too.

Randle El scored a record-setting touchdown on the punt return right after his costly fumble. He threw a lovely pass for a vital 2-point conversion. He gathered three of his five receptions on the first of three fourth-quarter touchdown drives. And he accounted for 193 all-purpose yards along with eight points -- the Steelers' first and final points -- in an improbable 36-33 victory at Heinz Field.

Randle El's was a full bag yesterday in his first NFL playoff game. No wonder he yanked out of the T-shirt he didn't want.

"I was blessed with a couple of chances to make plays," he said. "Fortunately, I was able to make them."

His manic game yesterday started out routinely: an 18-yard kickoff return, a fair catch on the first punt return, a 10-yard return on the next and a misfired pass in his direction. Then, on the second play of the second quarter, he dropped a Chris Gardocki punt at the Steelers' 32, with Cleveland's Lewis Sanders close enough to catch the punt himself after beating Steelers blocker Chidi Iwuoma downfield. "To fumble the ball and get hit at the same time..." Randle El began. "I like to be aggressive. At the same time, you want to be smart. It was a good play on his part."

On the next play, the Browns scored to take a 14-0 lead. Gulp.

Randle El had been at this juncture before. He fumbled punts against Atlanta and Houston leading to points for the opposition. The muff against Atlanta sparked the Falcons' 17-point, fourth-quarter rally. Said Steelers Coach Bill Cowher of the fumble yesterday: "Don't take him out of there. He just dropped one. And no one felt worse than he did."

On Cleveland's next punt, Randle El found himself dropping back, awaiting an opportunity to redeem himself.

"At first, I was kind of worried about catching it because it was short," he said. "I ran up and was able to trap it, get outside and make a play. A mistake on their part."

Once he reached the right sideline, the only potential tackler in his way was Gardocki. Randle El had been at this juncture, too. He had been racing toward the end zone at New Orleans earlier this season when he was pushed out of bounds by Saints punter Toby Gowin. He also slipped and fell while trying to shake Baltimore's Matt Stover on a long kickoff return at Baltimore, then was tossed out of bounds by Stover a week ago at Heinz Field.

But nobody was going to get in his way this time. His 66-yard touchdown run was the Steelers' first punt return for a score in their storied playoff history and their longest postseason return of any special-teams stripe.

"He's the type of guy, he'll make up for stuff like that," guard Kendall Simmons said of the first fumble. "Look what he did with that punt return for a touchdown. He wiped the slate clean."

Then Randle El started scrawling his name all over this one. He caught a third-and-1 pass for 5 yards and a 24-yarder that he bobbled and took to the Cleveland 6, helping to arrange the Steelers' first offensive touchdown. He also made catch-and-run plays of 20, 30 and 6 yards to set up the their next touchdown."

Then, after the Steelers took the lead in the fourth quarter, they called on Randle El to throw for the conversion that would give them a 3-point advantage. When Maddox signaled for a 2-point play, Randle El expected it to be the direct-snap-rollout-and-pass they had been practicing. He completed seven of his eight pass attempts on gadget plays this season, though this one to tight end Jerame Tuman was, as he put it, "bigger than the others."

Yes, Randle El still wants to be an NFL quarterback. "Hopefully, I'll get a shot here," he said. "If they need me to [pass], I'm not afraid, I'm up to it. Right now, it's me playing wideout, though."

Playing wideout (47 catches for 489 yards this season). Playing return man (a 99-yard kickoff return for a score at Cincinnati). Playing Slash Jr. (19 rushes for 134 yards and eight pass attempts). Playing well -- his 1,658 all-purpose yards topped all Steelers.

"Man, El's come on big time," Simmons said. "He's been doing that all year."