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Cincinnati Bengals great Ken Riley has been a consistent topic as the organization reportedly re-opens the discussion about a Bengals Ring of Honor.
But the Hall of Fame aspect is always a big talking point given the fact the defender with the fifth-most interceptions in NFL history from an era where teams didn’t pass all that much got snubbed.
The great Dick LeBeau, who had the opportunity to coach Riley during his time with the Bengals before going on to be longtime Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator, has thoughts on the subject too.
LeBeau says Riley is a good personification of the Hall, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com
“Kenny Riley represents what the Hall of Fame is all about, in my opinion … I think Kenny’s stats merit that. I definitely do. Look at how many games, how many years that he played. The productivity he exhibited. The leadership that he exhibited.
Not many play cornerback for 10 years and you have to average five a year to even get to 50 and it’s hard enough to average two a year. Kenny to a certain extent and me definitely, when I played teams ran the ball 60 to 65 percent of the time. Pound, pound, pound, play-action. Kenny overlapped that era a little bit. Now they run the ball 35 percent of the time and pass, pass, pass.”
While these aren’t necessarily new ideas in the greater Cincinnati area when it comes to Riley’s candidacy, it carries more weight from LeBeau—and it apparently needs amplified quite a bit more nationally.
If anyone would know whether a player is worth of enshrinement, it’s LeBeau.
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