Cincinnati Bengals great Ken Riley joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Presented by Ken Riley II and Barbara Riley, it marks the first time the Hall gave Gold Jackets to posthumous inductees.
As expected, the reveal of the bust was one of the biggest moments of the enshrinement process, which onlookers captured in picture and video form.
The occasion marks not just the second Bengals player ever in the Hall, but a longstanding quest for mother and son to make this happen.
“My son,” Barbara said, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, “when (Ken Sr.) passed said, ‘Mama, I’m not going to stop. I need to get dad’s name back out there. I can’t let his name just fall to the wayside.’”
The full unveiling of the bust:
Ken Riley’s @ProFootballHOF bust unveiled by Barbara Riley & Ken Riley II ❤️
📺: #PFHOF23 Enshrinement on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/an588HsdGS— NFL (@NFL) August 5, 2023
The Rattler now has his place in Canton forever.
For the first time, we see the bronze bust of @Bengals legend Ken Riley! pic.twitter.com/VJr4ahgIlA
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) August 5, 2023
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