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Ken Riley finished his career with 65 interception. According to ESPN's Football Encyclopedia, if Riley played in the era of today. He would have ended up with 75 interceptions. Because much of his career he played in less games than the 16 played today. Which would have him at Number 4 instead of 5 behind Rod Woodson
Ken Riley played his whole career as a cornerback. Which would make him number 2nd in interception by a cornerback. The four players ahead of him were either safeties or became safeties later in their careers with the exception of Dick (Night Train) Lane. To me safety is an easier position to get interception because you are playing center field. .
Ken Riley belongs in the the NFL Hall Of Fame. The NFL is 87 years old and Ken Riley is #5 in interception an he isn't in HOF?
Following is links and articles from other sources saying he belongs.
Article below from the Ledger of Lakeland Florida
BY DICK SCANLON
THE LEDGER
Published: Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 1:10 a.m.
If Ken Riley had come up with a little trademark dance to perform after each of his 65 NFL interceptions, he might be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.
But it isn't Riley's nature to call attention to himself.
"I was very low-key," he said. "I always felt actions spoke louder than words."
Now he's not so sure. Twenty-five years after retiring as an active player, the 61-year-old Riley is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A strong case can be made that he should be, starting with statistics and longevity, and then considering more subtle issues like character and what a Hall of Fame should be about.
"He's the kind of classy guy you want to see in the Hall of Fame, what it stands for," said Arthur Hightower, director of player development for the San Diego Chargers. "The Sixties was a turbulent time, and he was a college quarterback who changed positions and never questioned it. Ken Riley has never been a 'me' person; he's always been a guy who just gets the job done."
Hightower, who has been endorsing Riley's Hall of Fame election for years, admits to a personal bias - he played for Riley at Florida A&M. But there are more objective sources who feel just as strongly about it. ESPN's Sal Paolantonio has even 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. Of the 27 players with 50 or more interceptions, he is the only one never selected to a Pro Bowl."
If Riley's Hall of Fame exclusion can be reduced to one factor, that is probably it. Even in 1976, after leading the NFL in interceptions, he was not named to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster.
"Even though we say, in the committee, that it doesn't necessarily work against him, you know it does," said Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News, one of 44 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Selection Committee. "To me, Ken Riley not being in the Hall of Fame is a huge injustice. He's fifth on the all-time list in interceptions, and once Rod Woodson (who will be eligible in 2009) goes in, all four guys above Ken and the No. 6 guy, Ronnie Lott, will be in."
FROM RATTLER TO BENGAL AND BACK
Riley stands right up there with Ray Lewis at the top of the list of football greats produced in Polk County.
Kenneth Jerome Riley was born Aug. 6, 1947, in Bartow, and attended Union Academy in the early '60s. He was a running quarterback at FAMU, but he knew he wouldn't play that position professionally.
"We (blacks) were stereotyped then," Riley said. "Everything down the middle - the quarterback, the center, the middle linebacker - those positions required thinking, so they didn't put us there."
He was pleasantly surprised when the Bengals drafted him in the sixth round in 1969, a pretty good investment for a player who would anchor one side of their secondary through the 1983 season.
After retiring as a player, Riley worked for two years as an assistant coach under Forrest Gregg with the Green Bay Packers, but then a phone call changed things.
"Jake Gaither called me, wanted me to come back to Florida A&M," he recalled. "The program was in disarray. I thought I was part of a good staff and team that brought back pride to the school."
He coached the Rattlers for eight years and then served as athletic director for nine more years. It did not end well.
Caught up in an NCAA investigation and charges of financial mismanagement, Florida A&M fired Riley and several other administrators in 2002 and 2003. Riley says he "accepted what happened, because I was the athletic director," but will not elaborate on the details out of loyalty to his alma mater.
The Rileys returned to Bartow, and in 2004, an opportunity arose at Winter Haven High School, where he works now as a dean.
"I'm pretty content with what I'm doing. I still get a chance to help the students," he said. "They are our future, even though they have a lot of temptations out there."
ELUSIVE HONOR
Riley has been inducted into several halls of fame, including the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
"But for some reason, the big one has eluded me," he said. "I've had people from Europe sending me stuff, saying the same things. A lot of young sports writers say they don't understand it. Just my stats alone ... you've got to have something going to have 65 interceptions, to lead the league three times. And the longevity records - all the games I played (207 in the regular season). For some reason, Bengals players just don't get the recognition."
That might be true. Hightower points out that throughout most of Riley's playing career, the AFC was dominated by the Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders or Pittsburgh Steelers.
On the other hand, that means Riley's accomplishments came against Hall of Fame receivers like Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Fred Biletnikof and Paul Warfield, which doesn't seem like an argument against him. Moreover, the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl in 1982.
Riley played his entire career at 5-foot-11 1/2 and 183 pounds and never sustained a serious injury. Such durability is Hall of Fame material in itself, according to Gregg.
"Especially for a cornerback," he said. "Those guys have to rely on their speed. Ken Riley had speed, but he also had intelligence. He studied his opponents and it made him a great player."
A Hall of Famer himself, Gregg is puzzled by the Hall of Fame selection process.
"I was chosen five years after I retired, and I was very grateful, but I don't know who, why or what," he said. "I can only say this - in my opinion, Ken Riley is a Hall of Fame football player. You never had to guess whether Ken Riley was going to be ready to play."
The selection process itself might be working against Riley, who is now caught in "a quick-sand morass with so many veteran players that are worthy," according to Ludwig.
Any person or group of persons can nominate players for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To get in, the player must get 80 percent of the votes of the committee members.
Ludwig recommends Riley and three other former Bengals every year. One of the others is Lemar Parrish, who played the corner opposite Riley for eight seasons, albeit with a lot more flamboyance. Riley got most of the interceptions, and Parrish got the Pro Bowl selections.
"Leapin' Lamar was Willie Mays," Ludwig explained, "and Ken Riley was Henry Aaron."
[ Dick Scanlon can be reached at 863-802-7554 or dick.scanlon@theledger.com. ]
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