Anderson: “If Anybody Deserves to Be In Hall, it’s Ken Riley”

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to Ken Anderson, click on the following link: Ep 114: Former Bengals QB Ken Anderson Joins The Show | Spreaker)

Here we go again.

Ken Riley or Lemar Parrish? Which cornerback is more deserving of the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

That question has been raised for years, and it was raised again last week when former Cincinnati quarterback Ken Anderson, a teammate of Riley and Parrish, appeared on the latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast.

Riley has more traction with Hall voters, mostly because he’s tied for fifth in career interceptions with 65. But selectors are hesitant to push him across the finish line because … well, let’s be honest: Because of Parrish.

The two were cornerbacks on the same Cincinnati teams, yet it was Parrish who was chosen to Pro Bowls and Riley who was not. Parrish, who later played for Washington, was named to eight Pro Bowls. Riley was named to none. Parrish was also named to five All-Pro teams, including three first-team choices. Riley was chosen to three, with one first-team pick.

Confused? So are voters. That’s why we turned to Anderson for help, focusing more on Riley, who died in 2020 and who, one year later, finished second to Drew Pearson as the Hall’s senior finalist.

“Number one,” Anderson said of Riley, “he was a great player. Number two, he was a great teammate. You talk to guys like (former Cincinnati receivers) Isaac Curtis and Cris Collinsworth, who would go against him in practice; then who, after the play was over, he would coach up on what he saw that they were tipping off. He was all about team, trying to make the team better.

“When you talk about 65 interceptions , (you’re) playing in an era where you’re only playing 14 games a year until the late ‘70s when they changed the pass-blocking rules … (where) offensive linemen had to keep their hands within the framework of their bodies. So quarterbacks only threw the ball 18 times a game.

“That was the era that he played in. So for him to come up with 65 interceptions, is just remarkable. If anybody deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, it’s Kenny Riley.”

Around Full Press Coverage

NFL OPINION: The Brutal End?: Raiders Close 2022 With Grueling Schedule

NFL NEWS: NFL Opinion: Watson Enablers Flushed Credibility Early In Process

NFL: Have the Green Bay Packers Assembled a Super Bowl Defense?

FANTASY FOOTBALL: Fantasy Football: Rookie Running Back Rankings Post-NFL Draft

NHL: Auston Matthews to The Desert Doesn’t Seem Plausible

PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 42: Deebo Samuel Requests Trade; Possible Landing Spots

The numbers support him. Of the top seven NFL players in career interceptions, only one is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame … and I don’t think I need to draw you a picture. But it’s the accolades that bother voters, who wonder how someone that accomplished could be overshadowed by a teammate.

Anderson had a ready answer.

“Lemar was the flashy guy,” he said “(He) was a great player, don’t get me wrong. But he was an outstanding punt returner, too …So I think that kind of helped his cause. I think Lemar got a lot of notoriety because he was the flashy one.”

Riley and Parrish are both Hall-of-Fame worthy. Frankly, so is Anderson, who was the 1981 league MVP, a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. Of the three, only Anderson has been a Hall finalist, with his case debated twice (1996, 1998). However, with the Hall moving to three senior finalists in each of the next three years, at least one could emerge as an inductee, breaking a drought for a franchise with only one former player enshrined (Anthony Munoz).

“It’s exciting they expanded it,” said Anderson, “because there are so many worthy candidates that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. From the senior standpoint, we played a long time ago, and statistics aren’t as gaudy when we played as they are now … It was a totally different football game than it is ow. There are so many worthy candidates that I’m glad to see this.”