Riley Odoms

Riley Mackey Odoms (born March 1, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Houston, where he had a highlight year in 1971 with 45 catches for 730 yards and eight touchdowns after playing sparingly the two seasons prior.

Odoms played his entire NFL career with Denver. He was drafted fifth overall in the first round of the 1972 NFL draft, which tied him with Hall of Famer Mike Ditka for the highest drafted tight end ever in the NFL draft. That record stood for 49 years until the 2021 NFL draft, where University of Florida TE Kyle Pitts was selected fourth overall by the Atlanta Falcons.

Odoms was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was a two-time All-Pro. He finished his career with 396 receptions for 5,755 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Odoms is the grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Biz Mackey.

Odoms was inducted into the Broncos' Ring of Fame in 2024.

NFL career statistics Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1972 DEN 14 0 21 320 15.2 48 1 1973 DEN 14 14 43 629 14.6 47 7 1974 DEN 14 14 42 639 15.2 41 6 1975 DEN 14 14 40 544 13.6 43 3 1976 DEN 14 14 30 477 15.9 47 3 1977 DEN 14 14 37 429 11.6 33 3 1978 DEN 16 16 54 829 15.4 42 6 1979 DEN 13 12 40 638 16.0 45 1 1980 DEN 15 15 39 590 15.1 30 6 1981 DEN 15 15 38 516 13.6 28 5 1982 DEN 8 6 8 82 10.3 18 0 1983 DEN 2 0 4 62 15.5 21 0 153 134 396 5,755 14.5 48 41

Playoffs Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1977 DEN 3 3 8 65 8.1 30 1 1978 DEN 1 1 1 24 24.0 24 0 1979 DEN 1 1 2 3 1.5 3 0 1983 DEN 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 6 5 11 92 8.4 30 1