The passing of Ken Riley today is a sad one indeed for all Bengals fans. Our hearts here at BengalsGM go out to his family and friends. Unfortunately I never had the pleasure to see Riley play but he is known as one of the, if not the, best Bengals defensive players in history. He is also considered a Hall of Fame snub.
Riley amassed 65 interceptions and 5 touchdowns in his 15 year career. 15 years all with the Cincinnati Bengals! Not many people know that Riley was a college QB with Florida A&M University and Paul Brown decided to switch him to cornerback when he was drafted in the 6th round. His athleticism stuck out to Brown in 1969 and the rest is history for Riley. If you would like to see his career stats click here.
It is unfortunate that Riley will never himself see the Hall of Fame. If there was a Ring of Honor (cough cough Mike Brown), Riley would certainly be in it immediately. David Fulcher (31 INTs) and Leon Hall (26 INTs) are the only modern day Bengals players to even come close to Riley….that’s how good he was.
A moment of silence for one of the greats.