Wiley steps up his game from Columbia to Buffalo

It wasn't so long ago that Columbia football was the laughing stock of the Ivy League. Last year they broke out of the their losing ways to compete for the Ivy League crown, finishing second to Dartmouth with an 8-2 overall record. A big reason for their turnaround was All-Ivy standout defensive end Marcellus Wiley -- who now is focusing on making the Buffalo Bills back into a Super Bowl contender -- seeing some action in the Bills' first two games. Wiley was highly touted out of Columbia, despite playing against Ivy League competition. Slated by some to be a first-rounder, Wiley fell to the second round and the 52nd-overall pick. Nonetheless, he seemed happy, and furthermore, the Bills seemed ecstatic to get Wiley late in the second round. "I went into there just hoping to get drafted. I went there with some mental images of myself going high. I knew I matched up well with other players out there that were eligible for the draft," he said. Two weeks into training camp at SUNY-Fredonia, Wiley explained that it doesn't matter to anyone on the Bills team where he is from just as long as he can play. Wiley was able to evaluate himself in the first few weeks and saw himself doing some things to receive the coaching staff's accolades and other things that he hopes to improve. Wiley has excellent speed for a defensive end which will probably be used most often by the Bills in their nickel and dime packages. He also expects to play a lot of special teams, but his personal goals are loftier. "First of all, my most immediate goal is to make the team. Past that, I want to be a positive contributor -- a performer," Wiley said. Wiley did admit that his handwork could use improvement. On the advice of NFL veterans Brice Paup and Jim Jeffcoat, Wiley has been taking karate and yoga to help his lineman skills. Yoga and karate are just two lifestyle changes that Wiley has realized come with being a professional athlete. The differences between the college and professional games begin there. Football changes from being a sort of hobby to a job. It's more demanding and more intense. "There are less distractions, but there are more obstacles," Wiley said. There aren't any classes, but team meetings are held regularly and attendance is mandatory. He is expected to learn everything in the playbook, and learn it quickly. Sundays are the testing days. "I have high goals for myself. I'm a gifted athlete, and all you have to do is play your position. It's where you fit in the system. You try to show the things you learn in practice in the games," he said. When facing professional competion for the first time, Wiley -- was able to apply pressure several times and eluded his blocker enough to draw a few holding calls on his Denver Broncos opponent. Overall, he has found that life in the NFL can be a learning process. "Run reads are the most difficult for me. Offenses are very, very hard to read in comparison to college. There are a lot more things being thrown at you at once," he said. Wiley is willing to work hard though to prove that he belongs in the NFL. The notion that he could play at this level has always been there, even as a 195-pound freshman running back at Columbia. "I thought I had a legitimate shot as a freshman when I was playing running back," he said laughing. "When I got to the all-star games and I got to match myself up against the guys that got all the publicity, then I knew I had what it took to be in the NFL." He has matured much since that freshman year. He added nearly 80 pounds to his 6'4" frame to reach his current 271-pound listing. Yet, he is still capable of running a 4.7 40-yard dash. In adding the weight, Wiley basically "outgrew the [running back] position," as he explained. Columbia continued to use Wiley in short-yardage situations, but he readily admits those may have been the last carries of his career. "I'm trying to master what I'm playing right now. At Columbia, that was pretty much a gimmick. If I get to that status level where they want to play around with me a little more, I'll look forward to that, but for now I want to stay as Marcellus Wiley -- the great defensive end," Wiley said.

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