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    Former Steelers head coach’s all-time favorite play call? The Hoosier Special

    TDH StaffBy IUFB NFL 1 Comment

    Antwaan Randle El played wide receiver in the NFL for a decade.

    But it was his combination of passing and running at IU that made him a 2001 First Team All-American for the Hoosiers.

    He was the first player in FBS history to pass for 6,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in career, and he rushed for more yards than any QB in FBS history upon conclusion of career.

    Looking for a decisive fourth quarter score in Super Bowl XL, the Pittsburgh Steelers leveraged Randle El’s unique skills, first putting him on the move as a runner, before having him look downfield to throw.

    It was a play named for Randle El’s time as a quarterback at Indiana, and it became the all-time favorite play call in the 15-year head coaching career of Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

    “My single favorite play-call, it was a Hoosier Special,” Cowher said on CBS.  “It was a pitch to Jerome, pitch back to Antwaan Randle El.”

    On February 5, 2006, midway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL, the Steelers led the Seahawks 14-10 and had the ball near midfield. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger pitched the ball left to running back Willie Parker. He immediately handed the ball off on a reverse to Randle EL, who ran horizontally with it behind the line of scrimmage for a few moments.

    “He can throw it, he was a quarterback in college,” Al Michael proclaimed with the ball in the air.

    Randle El threw a precision pass off one foot, from the 50 yard-line, to Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward, who beat his man for a 43-yard touchdown catch.

    Randle El became just the third non-quarterback to throw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl. The connection concluded scoring in the game as Randle El’s Pittsburgh Steelers captured their fifth championship title in the 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

    Randle El is currently a receivers coach for the Chicago Bears.

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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