In Play with Craig Mattick, made possible by Horton in Britton, a worldwide supplier of engine cooling systems and proud member of the community for more than four decades. Hortonww.com.
Craig Mattick:
Welcome to another edition of In Play. I am Craig Mattick. Today's guest was a multi-sport athlete, a three-time state wrestling champ and played college football. He was a collegiate all-American and then a very nice twelve-year career in the National Football League with five teams including the Minnesota Vikings. His high school wrestling career was stellar, a record of 121 wins, only one loss, three championships. He's the Parkston Trojan, Iowa Hawkeye, and former Lion Viking, Bengal Bear, Patriot, he's Riley Reiff. Riley, welcome to In Play.
Riley Reiff:
Hey, thanks for having me.
Craig Mattick:
I should have mentioned in the open, Riley, that you're a big outdoorsman. You love to hunt and you love to fish. Did you get some time on the lake here over the summer?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah. Yeah, I did. I live close to the Missouri River. Had a few good days and some not so good. I love everything about South Dakota, the fishing, the hunting, the people. It's just beautiful out here.
Craig Mattick:
When did you get that love though of the outdoors with hunting and fishing?
Riley Reiff:
It was just something me and my family, we did, how we bonded. It got us out of the house and then in high school with friends, and I just love being out, the camaraderie. And now I got some dogs, so fun going out with them, and I just really enjoy it.
Craig Mattick:
I know that you loved football and wrestling, but you also lettered in golf. Are you still trying to get 18 holes in once in a while?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, I golf, probably more than I probably should, but I'm not getting any better. Let's just put it like that. I enjoy going out, whether it's a charity deal or a benefit or something, I enjoy going to those and playing
Craig Mattick:
Riley, football and wrestling were big sports for you at Parkston. How did you handle the summer camps? There's a lot of camps for both. You were good at both sports. How did you handle the summer with all those camps that were available?
Riley Reiff:
Usually had baseball. When I was younger, we had swimming. It was just on to the next board or hanging out with your friends, just being a kid I guess. Nowadays, some of these kids' schedule, they're pretty year round. Back when was in high school, we really didn't have that. You took a little time off. Yeah, you might have did a camp here and there, wrestling, a couple football, but no, usually summer was baseball or hanging out with your friends at the pool or working. In high school, you had a job, so yeah, it's a little bit different than nowadays, that's for sure.
Craig Mattick:
Football coaches love it when their players wrestle and the wrestling coaches love it when their wrestlers play football. What did football do to you to make you a better wrestler and what did wrestling do for you to become a better football player?
Riley Reiff:
The wrestling probably impacted the football more. Your balance, your mental toughness, your hand fighting and stuff like that, your coordination, I think wrestling really played a big part in the football aspect. Obviously, I went on to play football in college and after that, but wrestling really was the foundation of my football career.
Craig Mattick:
As an eighth grader, you placed fifth at the state wrestling tournament. That was at 189. You'd go on to win state wrestling titles as a freshman and a sophomore and a senior, record of 121 wins and one loss. That one loss though came as a freshman. Where was that?
Riley Reiff:
That was to a good friend now, Tyler Sorensen. I believe it was in Wagner at a dual tournament. I had a lot of great coaches, a lot of great partners in the room, and just was able to fall into a great group of guys, teammates to show me how to do it at such a young age.
Craig Mattick:
In fact, Tyler I think went on to win at 189 the next year. The following year after that, you won at 215, so your only lost, the guy that beat you still won a title but you moved up a weight to 215.
Riley Reiff:
Yeah. No, Tyler had a great career, moved on to SDSU, and had a great career up there. He's a good friend. We have a lot of the same interests, hunting, fishing. Just a great guy.
Craig Mattick:
Parkston won the team title your junior year. What was special about that wrestling team? I think you only had two guys that won state titles.
Riley Reiff:
I don't really remember the exact years on what we all did. I just remember throughout my time at Parkston, all the great wrestlers, whether we won it or not, just being part of those teams of guys that worked hard, did it the right way, and that goes back to the coaching staffs that we had there. Yeah, it was a blast. We had fun, just like anything in life, if you're winning and you're having fun. I was just blessed to be around such a great group of guys that worked hard, that were smart.
Craig Mattick:
Mike, Mike Heisinger, was he the wrestling coach?
Riley Reiff:
No, Mike wasn't my coach, but Mike is my uncle.
Craig Mattick:
Okay, okay. All right.
Riley Reiff:
So yeah, me and Mike might have wrestled a few times when I was real young and he used to whoop up on me, but I had a bunch of coaches throughout my high school, but the last one I had, John Gilman was always there, herb Harris. I had a ton of great coaches, a ton of people that know the sport of wrestling, and they helped me a lot.
Craig Mattick:
You won three straight wrestling championships, but what happened your senior year?
Riley Reiff:
I got hurt playing football. It was the first game of the year for us, so we played Wagner and I fell on my wrist and I messed up my wrist pretty good. Looking forward to that game and one of my real good friends the week before, he lost his leg in an accident, Ryan Kosher from Wagner.
Craig Mattick:
I remember that.
Riley Reiff:
Me and him were real close growing up and we were looking forward to playing him. That's a whole different story. I don't know if you know much about that, but he is one tough son of a gun and still friends to this day. But yeah, I got hurt, got hurt in that game and then played through it the rest of the year. And then wrestling, I needed to get my wrist fixed and it was coming up with football season in the fall. It was a six-month surgery.
Craig Mattick:
In football at Parkston, the Trojans didn't make it to the dome during your career. Which team or teams always got in the way from you guys to getting to the dome?
Riley Reiff:
There was a lot of good teams in 11B. The way I remember it, you had Elk Point, you had Wagner, you had Ron Colley, you had St. Thomas Moore who was always tough. There's a lot of schools that were tough. I couldn't tell you who exactly all beat us, but we were always close. I played with a bunch of good dudes too. Coach Mitchell was an awesome football coach, was fortunate to get to play under him, and yeah, that 11B, there was always-
Craig Mattick:
Tough, yeah.
Riley Reiff:
... tough competition. And for a smaller town like us, I thought we handled ourselves pretty well in that class. We just never got it done.
Craig Mattick:
You played defensive end and played tight end. You're going both ways and Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in 2007. What does that award mean to you?
Riley Reiff:
I think it just shows the type of teammates I had, the coaching that I got along the way. It was fun. I won't to call myself a defensive end or tight end after playing in the next level, but it was fun in high school.
Craig Mattick:
You had eight interceptions in your high school career. Were any of those pick sixes?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, I don't know if I had eight. Those stats might, there might have been some misconception or somebody might have got the stats wrong on that one. I don't think so, no. I believe I might have scored a touchdown or two, but I don't think I ever picked sixed one. I don't even know how many interceptions I had in high school.
Craig Mattick:
You were involved with two physical sports in high school. The worst injury you got I'm assuming is going to be that wrist injury you got.
Riley Reiff:
It was a pretty big surgery, and luckily, I just fought through it and it really didn't hinder me too much. I lost a lot of mobility in my wrist, but it didn't hinder me too much in my football playing days, but otherwise, I snuck out pretty healthy. I had a lot of clean up surgeries, joints and stuff like that, but I won't really consider those too major.
Craig Mattick:
Well, colleges were a calling for you, Riley, to play football after Parkston. What was that recruiting process like for you? Because I know you picked Iowa and then you thought about Nebraska, but what was that whole time like?
Riley Reiff:
Back then, it was a little bit harder because you didn't have people giving you more money or anything with today's landscape, with NIL, but it was tough. I committed to Nebraska, went to my first game there as a kid and thought it was the coolest thing in the world and I always wanted to play college football and I committed there. They fired their coach late in the year and then I ended up choosing Iowa and that was probably the best decision I ever made. I thought I was a defensive end, a slow defensive end going into Iowa, they gave the number 77, and weekend, they told me, "Hey, you're going to go play offensive line." So I was fortunate that they'd seen that in me, and that's to nod to Coach Ferentz and his staff. They really did a lot, build me up, putting muscle on, weight, teaching me the technique, because I never played offensive line in high school.
Craig Mattick:
No, no, and you weren't going to be a tight end at Iowa, right?
Riley Reiff:
Seeing how some of those guys get paid, yeah, I wish I was.
Craig Mattick:
And you redshirted your freshman year. I assume that probably helped you a lot with the transition from going from the defensive side over to the offensive side.
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, yeah. No, it did. Like I say, if kids are on the fence about redshirting or not nowadays, absolutely redshirt. That's a big jump. I know in wrestling, you're seeing guys now competing at the highest level and coming straight out of high school or still in high school, but football, that's different. Just a couple of years makes a huge difference as far as college football goes, and even the NFL, right when you get in the league, everybody's good and there's 35-year-old guys that are... They're men and they're the best at their position. So anytime you get a year to sit back and learn a little bit, I don't think that's bad.
Craig Mattick:
You had some success at Iowa, got to play in some bowl games. In fact, you played in the, let's see, Orange Bowl, I think the Insight Bowl. You got to play some pretty fun games, playing in the Big 10. What was maybe one or two of the most memorable games that you played with the Hawkeyes?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, that whole Orange Bowl season was fun. That was my redshirt freshman year. I came in and played, and it was just a blast. We beat a lot of good teams that year. All the years were fun. I was fortunate. The group of guys I got to play with was amazing. They elevated me, hopefully I elevated them a little bit. Just getting to play with guys that care so much about it and are willing to fight and put in the work, it was a blast. I really can't name specific games or anything like that, but my whole time at Iowa, just from the coaching staff to the support staff there, I truly had a great time.
Craig Mattick:
I know on a Friday night in Parkston, the football field is full. What was that first start like at Iowa, waiting to go out in the field and seeing a really full stadium? What was that feeling like?
Riley Reiff:
It was unbelievable. When you get into the NFL, you come out and you hear the song or whatever and it's just not the same as college where you get the fan base. And hearing Back in Black coming out at the University of Iowa, I still get chills when I hear that song on the radio or if it comes up. It's very special to me.
Craig Mattick:
Well, you decide though after your junior year to forego that senior year at Iowa, enter the draft. What were you thinking at that time?
Riley Reiff:
Well, I just thought it was time. You hear so many voices, what you should be doing and what you shouldn't be doing, and I just thought it was time. I wanted to go see if I could play at the next level, and it took me a year. I was a first round draft pick but they had some guys, Detroit did, when I first came in that were pretty good players, and luckily I got to sit a year. Well, I played a little bit my first year, but I got to sit for a year.
Craig Mattick:
You started eight games that year with Jim Schwartz.
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, and you find out real quick how good those guys are. You might play one or two good defensive ends a year in college, and even in college, those same players, they get so much better in the NFL. You know, I had a great time in Detroit. We started winning towards the end.
Craig Mattick:
Made it to the playoffs twice when you were with the Lions. By the way, did you go to the NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis back in 2012?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah.
Craig Mattick:
What was that experience like? Okay, I'm kind of a nerd. I do like watching it on TV. What did you experience?
Riley Reiff:
The thing that I think most people don't... They look at their testing numbers and all this stuff, but it's behind the scenes where they're giving the MRIs, you're there for two or three days, I can't exactly remember, but you're meeting with teams, they're keeping you up until 12 o'clock at night. They're waking you up at 5:30 in the morning to go do a drug test, and they're just wearing you down. You see some of those numbers and you see such a jump from the Combine to the Pro Day, say. There's a reason that some guys improve exponentially. It's because they're worn down. They're beat down in those interviews and mentally fatigued, and yeah, no, the Combine was great.
You sit down and you meet with a lot of these teams, and when I was with the Lions, I remember it was one of the last interviews I did, and I walked out. Well, we have roommates or whatever and it was a tight end from Northwestern, we were rooming together, and he rolled in the room at midnight too and he goes, "Well, how'd your day go?" And I go, "Well, I don't think the Lions are going to draft me," and just the way the interview was going. It wasn't anything bad. We were just sitting there kind of talking a little bit and it wasn't anything bad. It wasn't too much football related, and next thing you know, I get drafted by the Detroit Lions.
Craig Mattick:
That first year, by the way, yeah, you got drafted, let's see, 23rd overall pick in 2012. That first year though with the Lions, you were doing a lot of pass blocking that year because the Lions had an NFL record 740 pass attempts. Of course, when you have Calvin Johnson, you're going to pass the ball, right?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, and that's like opposite of what I did at Iowa. Iowa was 70% pass, or runs, excuse me, and I go to the NFL and this whole path blocking deal, and you got to learn quick. You got to learn quick, and some of the technique I got away with in college, that doesn't work at the next level.
Craig Mattick:
Thanksgiving Day is always a big day in Detroit. What was that experience like? People in Detroit, they're ready for that 11 AM Thanksgiving Day game.
Riley Reiff:
It's awesome. I love playing on Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. Just the history behind it for the Lions and everything else, it was really special. I don't know for sure, I'm sure we lost a few but I think we won most of our games on Thanksgiving day.
Craig Mattick:
One of those was against the Packers. I know that. I'm trying to remember, did the Lions use you as a blocking back on offense? I'm trying to remember if they did, if you did that a couple of times, or was that with the Vikings, or was that with the Lions?
Riley Reiff:
No, that was with the Lions. Yeah, my rookie year, I got to go in as an extra tight end or pass blocker, and yeah, that was kind of fun. You see those tight ends go across in motion and cut in the defensive end. I would get to do that every once in a while. The one time, I cut Julius Peppers. He wasn't too happy about it. I cut him and then the next play, he threw me on my back, so I was like, "Yeah, I better not mess with him anymore."
Craig Mattick:
Your five-year deal with the Lions expires after the 2016 season and you signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings. Were there discussions with other teams before you signed with Minnesota?
Riley Reiff:
No, it was mainly between Minnesota and Detroit. There was a couple other teams that were in, but it would have been nice to play your whole career one place but Minnesota just offered me, the money was talking at that point, and Detroit's offer wasn't really close, even when you consider the taxes involved with Minnesota.
Craig Mattick:
2017, that's your first year with the Vikes. Oh, what a year it was. The Vikings go 13 and 3. Mike Zimmer is your coach, you're playing at US Bank Stadium, and of course, eventually it's the Minneapolis Miracle, Keenum to Diggs. I know you did your job on that last play. You blocked Trey Hendrickson, the defensive end for New Orleans. He prevented him from getting to Keenum, but what was your reaction when you saw Diggs catch that ball?
Riley Reiff:
I was shocked. I was just hoping they didn't call me for holding. No, I was so happy. The group of guys that I got to play with that year, it was special from the coaching staff. That was one of the funnest years I've had in the NFL bar none. Cincinnati that year was really fun too. Yeah, when you're winning, everything's better, and it was special. And just seeing the fans' reaction to that, just how much they were ready to win there, and hopefully they can get it done one of these years and I think they're on the right path.
Craig Mattick:
Well, I'm letting you know that I am a season ticket holder with the Minnesota Vikings. I was at that game, but the Minneapolis Miracle play, I was sitting in my seat with my head in my hands. I didn't think that was going to happen, and I stand up with the roar of the crowd and there's Diggs going into the end zone, and I just couldn't believe it either. An amazing Miracle for the Vikes.
Riley Reiff:
Everybody knows where they were when that happened. Most of the people in the stands that I talked to are like, "We were hugging everybody. It was like we were a big family."
Craig Mattick:
Well, the final year with the Vikings was a wild year as well, the COVID year, 2020, virtually nobody in the stadium watching the games. How weird was that year?
Riley Reiff:
It was different. It really leveled the playing field because the crowd noise is so huge in the NFL stadiums. It was actually, it just leveled the playing field straight across for an offense lineman. So those eight games or whatever that you're usually on the road, that really helped out where you're not using a silent count and everything else. I can't remember how we did that year, if we were very good or not.
Craig Mattick:
Seven and nine.
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, you had to bring your own energy with your teammates, and you didn't have the crowd there to get you pumped up.
Craig Mattick:
Were you taking a COVID test every week?
Riley Reiff:
Daily, yep, yep, yep.
Craig Mattick:
That was awful. I know you were placed on the reserve COVID list late December. What was going on at that time?
Riley Reiff:
It was the last game of the year. I remember this vividly. I had a playing time bonus, and it was Tuesday morning, getting ready to go. It was like 5 AM or 4:30 AM, and Eric Sugarman, the trainer calls me, and I knew him pretty well at that point. And he calls me, I thought he was just messing around. He was like, "Hey, you got COVID. You can't come in the building." I figured he was just messing with me because he knew about my bonus, and I was like, "Funny, Sugs. I'll be in there in 20 minutes or whatever," and he was like, "No, you really got COVID, Riley. I'm sorry. I know what you got going this week."
Craig Mattick:
Oh.
Riley Reiff:
So I get all these calls from Rudy Harrison and all the older guys. They're like, "Go get another COVID test just to make sure." I was going to go to CVS or one of those stores that do it right there, and I get a call from the GM. He calls me and he goes, "Hey, the owners want to honor your bonus, just what you've done this year and how you played and everything else." So I never did end up getting that COVID test, and they did honor the bonus so I was super thankful to the Wilf brothers.
Craig Mattick:
Oh. But you know what? They cut you a couple of months later.
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, yeah.
Craig Mattick:
That had to be hard. That had to be hard. Did you see it coming or not?
Riley Reiff:
No. Everybody's going to get cut in this business. It's just part of it. There was no hard feelings, it was what it was, and rick was nice about it, cool about it. He gave me a call, was upfront, and that's all you can ask for. It's not like you get in camp, you go through camp and then they cut you there. He cut me, gave me plenty of time to find a team, so no, I'm thankful to Rick Spielman and the Vikings organization. They handled it with class, and that's all you can ask for.
Craig Mattick:
Well, you know you can still play the game. You were released by the Vikes but you signed with Cincinnati. You start 12 games, you're protecting Joe Burrow. You're only there a year and then on to Chicago for a year. You start 10 games there. How different were the offenses at Cinci and Chicago when you compared it to what you did at Minnesota for four years?
Riley Reiff:
Yeah, I had a blast at both places. We weren't winning in Chicago, but just the group of guys and the coaching staff, the owners and stuff. Joe is more of a... Joe Burrow is a phenomenal quarterback and so was Justin Fields at Chicago, but Joe was a pocket passer, he'd scrambled when he had to, but Justin, I think he set a record for most rushing yards in the NFL that year that I was there, or we did as a team I believe. It was just two different styles, both fun. Yeah, when I got hurt in Cincinnati, that really stunk. I knew we were really good and I knew we could make a run. I didn't know we'd make it to the Super Bowl, but with Joe Burrow and some of the teammates he has, anything's possible there.
Craig Mattick:
What will you remember the most about Cincinnati?
Riley Reiff:
We worked hard and how hot it was. We worked hard when we had to work hard, and the coaching staff, Zach Taylor took care of us, and it was just a really fun year. To experience that, I made it to the NFC Championship game in Minnesota, but even to see the next step was pretty cool.
Craig Mattick:
164 games in your NFL career, you started 149. Over 12 years, that's pretty durable, then 2023 with New England, one game for the Patriots. That had to have been a tough year for you.
Riley Reiff:
It was. Third preseason game I believe, then that might've been the second year where they only played three. Was in late in the second quarter of course, didn't have... Maybe I did have. No, I didn't have my knee braces on. It can get a little sloppy out there, and of course somebody threw somebody in my knee. I missed the first four games, Belichick put me on IR and then come back, play right guard, left guard in the only game I played for them, and last play of the game, hurt my knee again, so yeah. And then they put me down for the year, but no, it was still a fun year. I enjoyed it. Playing under Belichick was awesome, just such a smart coach. You learn so much. The way he thinks, the way he breaks down a game, never seen anything like it to tell you the truth. It was quite impressive.
Craig Mattick:
Last year, 2024 was the first time in maybe 20 years you didn't play football. How weird was it? Maybe you were ready for retirement from football, maybe you're still in shape now and can get a phone call any day. What was last year like?
Riley Reiff:
I miss the structure. I miss the clowns, I don't miss the circus. I miss the guys, I miss the locker room camaraderie. Don't miss practicing, don't miss necessarily the game days. Just miss the little things with people. You meet a lot of great people in that profession. I like to tell people it's like 95% just awesome human beings and another 5% are so good, you got to have them on your team. But no, it's fun going to work with those great people like that every day, and that's all around the building. That's not just the teammates. That's the cafeteria staff, the janitors, the media people. It's fun to go to work, especially when you're winning. Winning makes everything better.
Craig Mattick:
What are you most proud of of your NFL career?
Riley Reiff:
I'd like to think that I was just a great teammate, played hard, and yeah, that's what I'm thankful for. And I guess what I'm thankful for is all the great teammates and coaches I had, support staff. You meet so many good people. I'd do it all over again if I could. It was awesome.
Craig Mattick:
The Minnesota Vikings just held their Annual Legends Weekend where all the past players come back for the game. I didn't see you last weekend. Did you make it or you didn't make it?
Riley Reiff:
I didn't. I actually didn't know it was going on.
Craig Mattick:
What?
Riley Reiff:
Mike Remmers told me. He said, "We got to get a team going for next year." I asked him how many guys on our team. I think there was two guys when I was there that were at the Legends game. I still do some stuff with them. They call me up every once in a while to golf in a tournament or they ask me to come up to training camp every once in a while. I'm just so busy, I don't make it up there as much as I probably should being that close.
Craig Mattick:
Ever thought about coaching, whether it's coaching football or maybe wrestling?
Riley Reiff:
No, I don't think that's in the cards right now. Maybe when life slows down a little bit. I would love to coach, I think it's awesome. If not right now, it would be at the high school level. I just spend enough time in hotels.
Craig Mattick:
So what is keeping Riley Reiff busy today?
Riley Reiff:
Cutting cedar trees. Cutting cedar trees and probably mow the lawn one last time here.
Craig Mattick:
Wow. And living in South Dakota.
Riley Reiff:
Greatest state ever.
Craig Mattick:
So what's next? What's next for you? What's on the horizon?
Riley Reiff:
Just being a dad. Being a good husband, being a dad and staying busy. I got enough stuff to keep me busy for a while so I'm not too worried on that.
Craig Mattick:
In Play with Craig Mattick is made possible by Horton in Britton, where smiling at work happens all the time. Apply now at Hortonww.com. If you like what you're hearing, please give us a five star review wherever you get your podcast. It helps us gain new listeners. This has been In Play with me, Mattick. This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
