Jack Riley (American football)

Jack Riley

Jack Riley as a wrestler for Northwestern University
Date of birth	(1909-06-13)June 13, 1909
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Date of death	March 22, 1993(1993-03-22) (aged 83)
Place of death	Kenilworth, Illinois, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)	Tackle
US college	Northwestern
Career history
As player
1933	Boston Redskins
Career highlights and awards
Honors	1931 All-America Team
Career stats
Playing stats at NFL.com Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com
College Football Hall of Fame

Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing United States
Olympic Games
	1932 Los Angeles	Heavyweight
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing Northwestern Wildcats
NCAA Wrestling Championships
	1931 Providence	Heavyweight
	1932 Bloomington	Heavyweight

John Horn Riley (June 13, 1909 – March 22, 1993) was an American football tackle. He played college football at Northwestern University and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Redskins. Riley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988. He was also a two-time NCAA wrestling national champion at Northwestern and silver medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Riley was born in Chicago and attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, as well as St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin. While at St. Johns, he participated in rowing and captained a championship crew in 1927.

College career

Riley attended and played college football at Northwestern University. While he was there, Northwestern had a 20–5–1 record and won two Big Ten Conference championships. He was named an All-American in 1931.

Riley also wrestled at Northwestern and was the NCAA heavyweight champion in 1931 and 1932. He then won a silver medal in wrestling at the 1932 Summer Olympics, behind Swede Johan Richthoff and ahead of Austrian Nickolaus Hirschl.

Professional career

After college, Riley played professional football in the National Football League for the Boston Redskins (later Washington Redskins now Washington Football Team) in 1933.

After football, Riley became a professional wrestler for two years and retired undefeated after 132 professional matches.

Post-sports

Riley entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II and rose to the rank of major. After the war he worked as a manufacturer's representative in Kenilworth, Illinois. Also, from 1948 to 1957, Riley served as the Northwestern University wrestling coach.