Perry Alphonso Riley Jr. (born May 3, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the fourth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Early years

Riley attended

Stephenson High School Stephenson High School (SHS) is a public school serving grades 9–12 located in the unincorporated area of DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It has a Stone Mountain postal address but it is not in the city limits. It is part of the DeKalb ...

Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,703 according to the 2020 US Census. Stone Mountain is in the eastern part of DeKalb County and is a suburb of Atlanta that encompasses nearly 1.7 square mil ...

, where he, besides occasionally lining up at running back and strong safety, was part of a highly talented linebacker corps with teammates Kelvin Sheppard, Marcus Ball and

Jermaine Cunningham Jermaine Alexander Alfred Cunningham (born April 24, 1988) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football for the University of Florida, and played for two BCS National Championship teams. He was drafted by the ...

. In his junior year, he registered 96 tackles, eight sacks and five forced fumbles. As a senior, Riley recorded 131 tackles, four interceptions, two sacks, five tackles for loss, and one defensive touchdown. Regarded as a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Riley was listed as the No. 27 outside linebackers prospect in the nation. He chose LSU over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, among others.

College career

In his

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

year at LSU, Riley saw action in seven games and was credited with four tackles. As a sophomore, he played all 14 season games for the Tigers and tallied 24 tackles, including 1.5 for losses and a half

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

. Riley recorded two solo tackles in the

2008 BCS National Championship Game The 2008 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2008 Allstate BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 7, 2008, and featured the No. 1 and ...

versus

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. A starter in his junior year for the Tigers, Riley ranked among the team leaders in total tackles with 60, including 7.0 for losses and 1.5 sacks. He was also credited with an interception, three pass breakups, and three quarterback hurries. Riley was named Defensive MVP of the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl and a finalist for the 2008

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

Professional career

Washington Redskins

2010 season

Riley was selected by the

in the fourth round (103rd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was signed to a contract on June 18, 2010. He was inactive most of the 2010 season. He played very well during times that he was on the field, but also made costly penalties, most notably he committed a 15-yard block in the back penalty against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, nullifying

Brandon Banks Brandon Desean Banks (born December 21, 1987) is an American Canadian football wide receiver and return specialist who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He wa ...

' punt return touchdown that would have won the game.

2011 season

In the 2011 season, Riley would have his first career start in Week 10 against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. He would continue being the starting right inside linebacker in place of

Rocky McIntosh Roger A. "Rocky" McIntosh Jr. (born November 15, 1982) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Miami. Early l ...

. In Week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings, Riley recorded his first career sack. Riley finished the season playing all 16 games, starting eight of them, and recording 68 combined tackles, one sack, and four pass breakups.

2012 season

Riley maintained his starting position at the right inside linebacker position by the start of the 2012 season. In Week 2 against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

, he recorded his first career forced fumble from wide receiver

Danny Amendola Daniel James Amendola (born November 2, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Texas Tech. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After spending his entire rookie season ...

, which was recovered by Josh Wilson and returned 30 yards for a touchdown.

2013 season

Riley continued to start at the "Ted" inside linebacker position at the start of the 2013 season. He recorded his first career interception on

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

backup quarterback

Chase Daniel William Chase Daniel (born October 7, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Missouri and was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted f ...

in a Week 14 loss. Long-time defensive captain,

London Fletcher London Levi Fletcher-Baker (born May 19, 1975) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins. He played college football ...

, personally supported that the Redskins re-sign Riley after the season when Riley would become a free agent. During Fletcher's retirement announcement, he announced his confidence in Riley's abilities and stated "But as this season has gone, I really wanted to help Perry Riley develop a little bit more. I think he’s at that point where Perry doesn’t need me anymore. He’s that player that I know he can be."

2014 season

Riley was set to become a free agent in 2014, and it was announced on the day before free agency began that Riley had re-signed with the Redskins to a three-year, $13 million contract.

2016 season

He was released by the Redskins on August 30, 2016.

Oakland Raiders

On October 4, 2016, Riley was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Riley started all 11 games he played for the Raiders, compiling 38 tackles and 10 assists.

References

External links

Washington Redskins bioLSU Tigers football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Perry 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football linebackers LSU Tigers football players Washington Redskins players Oakland Raiders players