Those two seasons also saw the program garner a 20-4-0 combined record. Texas A&I made the Division II playoffs both years Randle played, making the semifinals in ‘88. The program led the Lone Star conference in total defense, rushing defense, passing defense, and scoring defense titles, allowing 211.8 yards a game and 60.7 rushing yards a game.Īdditionally, the Javelinas allowed the opponents just 1.9 yards per carry on the ground. In 1989, the Javelinas boasted one of the best Division II defenses in the country.
Randle’s average tackles per game in two seasons was 5.3.įormer Texas A&I Javelinas Darrell Green (Redskins), John Randle (Vikings), and the late Gene Upshaw (Raiders) have been selected to the NFL 100 All-Time Team! Congratulations! #tamuk #NFL100 /M230jz4JDO In two years with the Javelinas, he established himself as one of the best small school defensive linemen in the country.ĭuring Randle’s junior year of 1988, he had 20 sacks. He just took off.”Īfter a brief stop at Trinity, Randle continued playing at Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville). He started lifting weights, and became a leader on the defense. A little later, it was like a light switch went on, and he started discovering what his capabilities were. “He hadn’t even scratched the surface of his potential. “When we got him into school, John was just kind of this big pup,” said Keith Walters, who coached Randle at Trinity and Texas A&I. Unfortunately, none of the big colleges came calling and Randle began his college football career at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. While working odd jobs when he could to help his mother, Randle became a dominant player for Hearne High. Randle heeded his mother’s words and continued to play ball. My mom said, ‘If you quit, there’s nothing else around here for you to do.’ If I hadn’t played football, I don’t know what I would’ve become.” “I quit football my sophomore year because I got tired of hitching. “Sometimes I had to wait until nine or 10 o’clock before I could find anyone going toward Mumford to give me a ride,” Randle says. The high school that the Randle’s attended, Hearne High, was a ten mile bus ride.Īfter football practices in the fall, the brothers would often have to hitchhike back home. However, that dream almost didn’t happen. Randle and his brother, Ervin, made a pact at an early age that football would be their way out of Mumford (population 150). My mother washed clothes by hand, and hung them on a clothesline, all the way until I reached college. “We had no indoor water, no indoor toilet. “We didn’t have the luxuries we’re so accustomed to today,” Randle said in 2011. Martha worked as a maid and the family lived in a very modest two-room building with no indoor plumbing.
Randle was the youngest of three boys who were raised by their mother, Martha. He learned perseverance at a young age due to his family’s circumstances. John Anthony Randle was born on Decemin Mumford, Texas. His intensity and motor put fear into the hearts of opponents.
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