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Riley vs Deion

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
RileyWinner
86.7

Riley wins: Longevity, Statistics

Deion
86.7

Deion wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/ken-riley-vs-deion-sanders

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Ken Riley
86.7

Riley leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories. Retired with 65 interceptions, then fifth-most in NFL history.

1. Ken Riley
86.7
2. Deion Sanders
86.7

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns per season

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through season 5 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Deion Sanders5 seasons played · career day 1,82524 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Ken Riley5 seasons played · career day 1,82520 touchdowns
-16.7% vs Deion at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Riley00482037
🇺🇸 Deion00582436

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricRileyRetiredDeionRetired
Career interceptions65
Interception return touchdowns5
Games played207
Seasons played15
Hall of Fame inductions1
Super Bowl titles2
Defensive Player of the Year1
Pro Bowls8
Interceptions53
Return touchdowns19
All-Pro First Teams6
Dominance w25%8286
Peak w20%9092
Longevity w20%9282
Honours w20%8086
Statistics w15%9288

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Riley86.7
Deion86.7
The people
Riley
Deion

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Make your case for Riley vs Deion. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.

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