Rueben Joseph Riley Jr. (born September 20, 1984) 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 ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2007. 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Riley has also been a member of 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 ...

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 ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

Early years

Riley was an offensive and defensive lineman at Creston High School in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, Michigan. Grand Rapids Creston High School is the only Grand Rapids Public School to ever go to the state finals in football (1999). Riley was a sophomore during that season.

College career

Riley played

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 2003 to 2006 after redshirting in 2002. In 2004, he started the majority of the year as a left guard. In 2005–2006 he started at right tackle due to many injuries at the position forcing coaches to move Riley. Riley's body type was projecting him as an early round draft pick at guard but the Wolverines needed him to shore up the edge as a tackle his last two years at Michigan.

Professional career

First stint with Panthers

Riley signed with the

after being passed over in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was cut on September 1, 2007, but was signed to the team's practice squad. He was re-signed during the 2008 off-season, but was waived on July 23.

Miami Dolphins

On July 26, 2008, Riley was signed by the

after the team waived

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Julius Wilson. The move reunited him with Dolphins rookies offensive line mate Jake Long and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. While there, Henne became only the second true freshman starti ...

. Riley was waived on August 3.

Second stint with Panthers

Riley was re-signed by the Panthers on August 7, 2008, after the team waived

Charles Spencer, the same player the Panthers acquired when they waived Riley two weeks earlier. He was waived during final preseason cuts on August 30.

Washington Redskins

Riley was signed to the

on December 9, 2008.

New York Giants

Riley was signed to the

' on December 31, 2009. On January 5, 2010, Riley was signed to a reserved/future contract. He was waived on August 7.

Hartford Colonials

Riley was signed by the

of the United Football League on September 16, 2010. He reported to the team and was the starting left tackle in the season opener with the Colonials. Four games into the season Riley dislocated his knee.

References

External links

New York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Rueben 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Michigan Wolverines football players Carolina Panthers players Miami Dolphins players Washington Redskins players New York Giants players Hartford Colonials players