Karon Joseph Riley (born August 23, 1978) is an American former National Football League (NFL) player, actor, producer, and gridiron football defensive lineman who most recently played for the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League (AFL) (2007–2008).

At Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, Michigan, Riley starred in football, basketball, and track&field. As a senior, in football, he was an All-City choice, an All-Metro choice, and an All-State choice.^[1]

Karon Joseph Riley entered the National Football League by being selected by the Chicago Bears in the 4th round (103rd overall pick) of the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Minnesota.^[2][3] He played with the Bears in 2001 and the Atlanta Falcons (2003-2004).

In 2005, he played two games in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts.^[4]

On January 30, 2006, Riley signed with the Redskins as an unrestricted free agent but was released on August 28, 2006^[5]

Karon Joseph Riley played two seasons in the Arena Football League with the Las Vegas/Cleveland Gladiators (2007–2008) as an offensive lineman/defensive lineman.^[6] On August 8, 2008 Riley was removed from the Gladiators roster and reassigned to the Arena Football 1 League office.^[7]

Riley has appeared in a few films and television shows since 2010 including Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, 35 and Ticking, The Last Punch, Last Call, Mann & Wife and the 2019 film Little.

In 2019, Riley appeared in a recurring role on Bounce TV 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.

He is also a film producer, in which his credits include two films.

Karon is married to actress Terri J. Vaughn and on April 24, 2008 Vaughn welcomed their first child, a son named Kal'El Joseph Riley.^[8]