Nov. 19, 2002
by Mark Wetzel * Host Communications
Imagine getting hurt during the first game of your senior year. Try andthink how devastating that would be. Then ask yourself, would you even feellike coming back? Linebacker Ronnie Riley did – with a vengeance.
“It’s divine intervention that I was able to come back and play,” said Riley.”The pain of the injury, the mental and physical, was unbearable, but Goddidn’t give me too much that I wasn’t able to bear it. Now, I’m out hereenjoying a good season.”
Good? That’s an understatement. Riley, who missed the remainder of the2001-02 season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medialcollateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee against Louisville, ranks fourthon the team with 61 tackles. The signal-caller on defense and emotionalleader of one of the most improved defenses in the Southeastern Conference,Riley is one of the main reasons the UK defense is contributing to theWildcats’ success.
“It’s refreshing to play defense to a point where we’re holding opponents andhelping the team win games,” said Riley.
Not only has the defense, which generated just 13 turnovers all of last year,increased its takeaways (20), it has allowed just 25.6 points per gamecompared to 33.4 a year ago. The Wildcats are also much improved on thirddown, holding opponents to a 35.1 percent conversion rate, nearly 10percentage points better than their previous mark of 44.8 percent.
“I don’t think anybody, before the season started, would have predicted that(the defense) would have played such a key role, but we have,” said Riley.”I know that for a fact.”
In his fifth year with the football program, and having already earned hisbachelor’s degree in decision science and information systems, there isn’tmuch Riley doesn’t know. Another detail obvious to this co-captain is thatbeing in graduate school carries its own pressure with his teammates.
“They think I think I know it all,” said Riley. “They tease me a lot and say,’Oh, you’ve graduated, huh? You’ve got a degree, huh?’ If I cut a joke andit might seem juvenile, they say, ‘Come on, Ronnie, you shouldn’t be actinglike that, you’re a graduate.’ They just expect a lot more out of me.”
Rightfully so. Riley was a part of the 2001 SEC Academic Honor Roll and isone of four Wildcats on this year’s team who have completed theirundergraduate studies. But, just because Riley has prepared himself for alife outside of football by being a standout in the classroom, he hasn’tgiven up the dream of playing professionally.
“I definitely have aspirations of playing in the NFL,” said Riley. “I have asense of whatever I do, I want to be the best or become one of the best atit. It’s the same reason I’ve gone back to grad school, so that I can be thebest student I can be. I wouldn’t be playing football if I didn’t want totake it to the next level.”
While Riley looks forward to that opportunity and the subsequent chapters ofhis life, he said he does so with mixed feelings.
“It’s a two-headed coin,” said Riley. “On one side I’m anxious to get out inthe real world and work to increase my lifestyle, but on the other, I’llmiss my teammates and the atmosphere here at UK.”
Trying to balance this wave of emotions as he prepares for his last home gameis difficult, but Riley is convinced the Wildcats won’t let the festivitiesof this day get in the way of competing and playing hard.
“We can’t let the distractions of our last home game keep us from beingfocused on Vanderbilt,” Riley said. “They almost beat Florida last week andwill be hungry to beat us.”
Although diplomatic in his response, Riley is truthful in that he knows theteam has taken the same steps to prepare for this game as any other duringthe year. That type of focus, a credit to Riley’s leadership, is internalmotivation, not hype surrounding the game or the opponent.
“Wanting to have a certain amount of success in a season will propel us,hopefully, into doing well in this game,” said Riley.
This game, Riley’s last in front of the home fans at Commonwealth Stadium,has the resilient linebacker reflecting on the end of his Wildcat journey.
“I will definitely treasure my last game at Commonwealth,” said Riley. “Iremember as a freshman, seeing other guys go out and thinking it’s going tobe forever – this day would never come. And now, it’s here and I’m going togo out and relish it.”
Early on in his career, Riley admits he might not have been mature enough todraw so much from an experience of this magnitude. However, returning frominjury and battling his way back into the starting lineup after sitting outspring drills, is proof that he has matured.
“The older I become, the more I appreciate the smaller things, like talkingto people,” said Riley. “When I first got here, I used to go out everyweekend. Now, I enjoy some of the more sentimental things in life, likebeing around friends.”
Over the course of his UK career, Riley has had the chance to become close toseveral teammates but said Morris Lane, David Johnson and Quentus Cumby aresome of his best friends on the team.
“We like to joke a lot,” said Riley. “We go out and do things every once in awhile, a concert or something, but we just like to hang out and be aroundeach other.”
Having such good friends speaks highly of Riley, a senior leader who hastaken full advantage of an unexpected medical hardship and excelled in hisreturn to the playing field. Imagine that.
