Omission of FAMU's and Bengals’ Ken Riley From Hall of Fame Is a Striking Oversight

Former FAMU Rattler Ken Riley displays a game ball
and three AFC Interception Leader awards he won
during his 15 NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.
 

BARTOW, Florida  --  When the City Commission of Bartow, Fla., held its regular meeting March 18, it filled a vacancy on the beautification advisory board, issued a proclamation endorsing Great American Cleanup Day and heard a resident’s complaint about his utility bill. Then, in its final order of business, the five commissioners voted unanimously to issue a municipal resolution supporting Ken Riley, one of Bartow’s own, for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The city attorney, Sean Parker, had spent months drafting the document and assembling the statistical case for Riley’s place in the Hall. Parker read the resolution in its entirety at the meeting, something unusual for the local government, and showed highlights from Riley’s 15-year career as a defensive back with the Cincinnati Bengals. Once adopted, the resolution was sent to all nine members of the Hall of Fame’s selection committee for senior players, those retired at least 25 years.

This advocacy is touching and maddening — touching for its loyalty to a hometown hero and maddening that it is left to such a grass-roots, amateur-level effort to campaign for Riley. As the Hall of Fame enshrines seven new members this weekend, including Dave Robinson and Curley Culp as seniors, the omission of Riley stands as one of its most striking oversights.

 

Thirty years after retiring from the Bengals, Riley still ranks fifth in career interceptions with 65. Yet 19 defensive backs with fewer interceptions have been inducted. During Riley’s years, 1969 to 1983, the Bengals posted a cumulative winning record with five trips to the playoffs and a Super Bowl appearance in 1982, when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.

 

After an illustrious college career playing quarterback for Florida A&M, Riley had to learn a new position with the Bengals, an expansion team. He soon developed into a disciplined, canny, intelligent defender as well as a consummate teammate. His assiduous study of opposing teams and players kept Riley competitive even as his speed and quickness diminished.

 

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Ken Riley Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

LIFE OF RILEY

• High School: Union Academy, Bartow, FL; College: Star QB, Florida A&M University; NFL 6th Round Draft Choice 1969, Cincinnati Bengals-- Played 15 seasons as cornerback.
• Riley also excelled academically and earned his team's scholastic award and a Rhodes Scholar Candidacy.
• NFL career: Bengals cornerback, 1969-83. Fifth on NFL all-time interception list with 65.
• Post NFL-career: 1984-85: Green Bay Packers assistant coach; 1986-93: Head coach, Florida A&M University, compiling a 48-39-2 record with two Mid-Eastern Athletic conference titles and 2 MEAC coach of the year awards; 1994-2003: Athletic director, Florida A&M.
• Personal: Age 65, hometown is Bartow, Fla. Married, three grown children, one grandchild. Resides in Bartow, Florida
• Riley is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
• In 2007 Riley was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the Top 33 players in the 100 year history of high school football in the state of Florida's history.
• Riley is in other halls of fame, including the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Polk County Sports Hall of Fame and the Florida A&M Hall of Fame.
•  Education: Florida A&M University, master's degree from the University of North Florida
• Honors: Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Polk County Sports Hall of Fame, Bartow Hall of Fame, Tallahassee Hall of Fame, Public Schools Hall of Fame, Suite named for him at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati; Tampa Bay All-Century Team (high school). 
• ESPN's Sal Paolantonio has written a chapter of a book, The Paolantonio Report about Riley, naming him as the second-most underrated defensive back in NFL history.  "He definitely deserves to go into the Hall of Fame," Paolantonio said. "I don't know what else he could have done.