Karon Joseph Riley (born August 23, 1978) is an American former

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

defensive 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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL),

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

. Riley played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

and

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

. He is since a

television actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and producer.

High school career

At Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, Michigan, Riley starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track&field. As a senior, in football, he was an All-City choice, an All-Metro choice, and an All-State choice.

Professional career

Karon Joseph Riley entered the

by being selected by the

in the 4th round (103rd overall pick) of the

out of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He played with the Bears in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

(

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

). In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he played two games in the

with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. On January 30, 2006, Riley signed with the Redskins as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

but was released on August 28, 2006 Karon Joseph Riley played two seasons in the

with the Las Vegas/Cleveland Gladiators (2007–2008) as an

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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. On August 8, 2008, Riley was removed from the Gladiators roster and reassigned to the Arena Football 1 League office.

Acting career

Riley has appeared in a few films and television shows since 2010 including '' Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns'', ''

35 and Ticking 35 or XXXV may refer to: * 35 (number) * 35 BC * AD 35 * 1935 * 2035 Science * Bromine, a halogen in the periodic table * 35 Leukothea, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music * ''XXXV'' (album), a 2002 album by Fairport Convention * ''35xxxv'', ...

'', ''The Last Punch'', ''Last Call'', '' Mann & Wife'' and the 2019 film ''

Little Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

''. In 2019, Riley appeared in a recurring role on

Bounce TV Bounce TV is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. It launched on September 26, 2011, and was promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multic ...

soap opera-drama ''Saints & Sinners''. He was the first replacement made in the series recast as the character Malik Thompson, previously portrayed by Anthony Dalton in 2018. Riley has starred as main character Malcolm in the hit series "The Black Hamptons" since 2022. He is also a film producer, in which his credits include two films.

Personal life

Karon is married to actress

Terri J. Vaughn Terri Juanita Vaughn-Riley (née Vaughn; born October 16, 1969) is an American actress, director and producer. She is best known for her role as high school secretary Lovita Alizay Jenkins-Robinson in The WB sitcom ''The Steve Harvey Show'' (1997 ...

and on April 24, 2008, Vaughn welcomed their first child, a son named Kal'El Joseph Riley.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Karon 1978 births Living people Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School alumni Players of American football from Detroit American football linebackers American football offensive linemen American football defensive ends SMU Mustangs football players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Chicago Bears players Atlanta Falcons players Canadian football defensive linemen Toronto Argonauts players Las Vegas Gladiators players Cleveland Gladiators players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Detroit 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Detroit