'It's probably overdue': Bartow to name street after NFL Hall of Famer Ken Riley

The posthumous accolades keep coming for Ken Riley, a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and Bartow native who never forgot about his community.

Bartow is set to name Gibbons Street after Riley at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in a street-sign unveiling at Gibbons and Bennett Court, the city said.

The new street will be christened Ken Riley Way. Riley’s wife still owns a home on Gibbons Street where the couple had lived.

The street renaming follows Riley’s induction into the Hall of Fame in February and after his death almost three years earlier at age 72. He retired from the NFL 40 years ago.

Riley played cornerback for 15 years with the Cincinnati Bengals and by the time he hung up his helmet for the last time, he had accumulated multiple records.

He held the Bengals' records for the most seasons played, most regular-season games played, career interceptions returned for yardage and postseason interceptions, according to the Hall of Fame. He also led the Bengals in interceptions seven times and led the AFC three times.

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Another highlight in his football career was his appearance in Super Bowl XVI, when the Bengals faced the San Francisco 49ers in a contest the Bengals ultimately lost.

Riley was picked in the sixth round of the 1969 draft. He played high school football at the all-Black Union Academy in Bartow before before the integration of schools. He was a quarterback at Union and later at Florida A&M.

In 1982, he was inducted into the Florida A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. After the NFL, he was the school's head football coach from 1986 to 1993, leading his teams to two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles and two coach of the year awards.

Riley was also an NFL coach from 1984 to 1985 and finished his career as the defensive backs coach of the Green Bay Packers, the Hall of Fame said.

City Commissioner Steve Githens said Mayor Leo E. Longworth worked with the city attorney to ask residents along the street to be renamed, and none of the residents objected.

"He came back to Bartow,” Githens said. “He was always focused on Bartow. ... He never forgot his Bartow roots.”

In a January 2009 Ledger report, he appeared for the opening of “Polk’s Pigskin History” installment at the Polk Historical Museum in Bartow and signed autographs.

According to Charles Luster, museum director at the African American Heritage Museum, Riley connected with the younger generation because after his football career, he interacted with them.

“They can relate to Riley,” Luster said. “He came back and did a lot of programs in the community so the younger generation 20 to 30 years younger would know him personally.”

The museum features a Union Academy exhibit with Riley’s photo and his accolades as well as a Bengals jersey he wore during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he said.

Luster also said there are several other Bartow streets named after notable people, from Martin Luther King Street to George Gause, the first Black mayor of Bartow, and L.B. Brown, who was born enslaved but become a master carpenter and successful businessman in Polk County, among others.

Of the street naming for Riley, Longworth said “it’s probably overdue” because when he came back to Bartow he was active on committees and boards. "He gave of his time selflessly to the city of Bartow, so it’s not just the Hall of Fame.”

Naming an existing street after someone significant is reserved for a once-in-a-lifetime person and they have to mean a lot to the city, he said.

“He was just a quiet person who didn’t have to talk a lot to say a lot.” Longworth said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow's Gibbons Street to be renamed for NFL Hall of Famer Ken Riley