Former Football: New Orleans Saints signee Christian Ringo helps fund for ex-Cajun Al Riles hit the

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, Nov. 15, 2020

AN UPDATE: On Sunday morning, an anonymous $350 donation combined with a $92 donation from Nick Domingue, former UL baseball public-address announcer at The Tigue, the funeral fund for late Ragin’ Cajuns receiver Al Riles hit its goal of $10,000. The original story …

A new member of the New Orleans Saints organization has made a generous donation to the GoFundMe campaign set up to benefit the family of a former Ragin’ Cajuns teammates who was killed last weekend.

According to online records, Christian Ringo made a $500 donation Saturday morning to the fund established to cover funeral costs and expenses after ex-Cajuns receiver Al Riles was shot and died Nov. 7 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Riles, who lived in Dallas and was attending culinary school, played on four New Orleans Bowl teams for UL from 2012-16.

According to his mother Deidre, who spoke with The Daily Advertiser on Monday night, Riles, 27, was shot and killed by a supposed friend while “tussling” on the ground with another friend he was visiting.

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The office of the Tarrant County (Texas) Medical Examiner has confirmed that Riles died of a gunshot wound to the chest. 

An All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2016, Riles spent about a month with the Indianapolis Colts in the 2017 offseason as an undrafted free agent.

But the Lakeshore High product never did play in an NFL game.

Ringo, a first team All-Sun Belt pick in 2014, has appeared in 20 NFL games, playing eight for the Green Bay Packers in 2016, six for the Detroit Lions in 2017, five for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018 and one for the Dallas Cowboys in ’18 as well.

He is a product of Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi.

Out of the NFL after agreeing to an injury settlement with the Bengals in August 2019, Ringo signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this past July. But when the CFL canceled its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he opted out of his deal in Canada with hopes of returning to the NFL.

The defensive end signed with the Saints’ 16-man practice squad Wednesday.

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Ringo played for UL from 2011-2014 and was a teammate with Riles, who is survived by a 5-year-old daughter, for three seasons.

From kickers to fellow former receivers, he joins a list of more than a dozen former UL teammates who are among the 160-plus donors to the fund since it opened Monday.

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