A Peek At Ken Riley’s Pro Football Hall Of Fame Exhibit

Riley II says it appears to be written after the 1984 season. LeBeau, then the Bengals defensive coordinator, congratulated Riley on his first year in coaching as the secondary boss for the Packers.

Riley often credited LeBeau with reviving his career at the age of 31. He racked up 21 interceptions and twice led the AFC in that stretch with LeBeau brandishing 62 career interceptions of his own and challenging Riley all the way to pass him on the list.

Riley did with three games to go in the 1983 season at, of all places, Pittsburgh, where LeBeau would have some of his best days as one of the game’s great defensive coordinators. Then in his last game in Minnesota, Riley picked off two more. LeBeau, who in the past had talked Riley out of retirement by dangling the 62, had no shot on this plane ride home.

Now both are in the Hall nearly 40 years after LeBeau sent the letter.

_Riley’s traveling bag from his last season with his No. 13 stamped on the side. His son thinks he gave his shoes and gloves away, but the shoulder pads and thigh pads are there.

Now Riley II says he’ll start focusing on the speech. He won’t see the bust until the unveiling.

“It looks good. It looks good,” Riley says. “He had less hair when he started (playing). But it’s more like the ’70s. It’s pretty accurate.”

So is the exhibit the son has put together. It’s a case of matter that matters.

“I was just trying to gather things we had,” Riley says. “I thought things like the shoulder pads and the playbook, that’s history.”