Drederick Tatum
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Chump.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/jaguars/2005-08-09-wiley_x.htm
New Jaguar Wiley tries to forget failure with Cowboys
By Skip Wood, USA TODAY
JACKSONVILLE — Marcellus Wiley rubs his hand across his face and then over his head to combat the sweat pouring off him.
Marcellus Wiley, seen here bringing down Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard, had only three sacks last season for the Cowboys.
By Tony Gutierrez, AP
"Whew!" the defensive end says a minute or two after a Jacksonville Jaguars morning workout amid stifling heat and humidity. "Why don't we just have a seat right here?"
Then he promptly drops to a casual sitting position right there on the field and gestures for his visitor to do likewise, prompting a few of his new teammates to laugh. Someone yells, "What's that? A picnic?"
Wiley, 30, waves a dismissive hand while returning their laughter.
But when the former Pro Bowler and nine-year veteran begins to discuss the last few seasons, the laughter quickly ceases — especially when revisiting last season's one-and-done stint with the Dallas Cowboys.
Wiley, who came in as the team's highest-paid free agent with a $4.5 million signing bonus, had three sacks. He publicly complained immediately after the season about how he was used and indicated he had no desire to return, and the team soon obliged him by letting him go.
Quite a drop from three years ago, when he was named to his first Pro Bowl after registering a career-high 13 sacks his first season with the San Diego Chargers. He had 10½ the previous season with the Buffalo Bills, and the future looked bright for the Columbia graduate, one of the league's handful of Ivy League players.
But after a solid 2002, when he was named a Pro Bowl alternate, he had three sacks the following season before looking to rebound in a big way with the Cowboys. It didn't happen, and so he accepted a one-year, $790,000 deal from the Jaguars. He has been practicing mostly with the second team for the first time since he backed up Bruce Smith with the Bills in the late 1990s.
Wiley knew it would be this way.
"I have a lot to prove to them, and that's understood," he says. "There are two Marcelluses out there, as they see it. They see the guy who had 23 or 24 sacks in two years and made the Pro Bowl and all that kind of good stuff, and then they see the guy who goes to Dallas and is barely running around and he's not getting out of his stance.
"That's OK. I understand that. I'm just glad I have another chance to earn my way and pave my own path."
Jaguars defensive line coach Ray Hamilton is among the more curious observers.
"He's definitely a proven player, but he's not a guaranteed starter for us, so he's got to show that he can make a contribution," Hamilton told the Associated Press. "But he's still a good player and can do some things that will help us win games. But how it pans out, no one knows."
Wiley believes he never had a chance to show his true talent in Dallas, largely because he was switched from left to right end. When he was frequently taken off the field on third downs, he would silently chafe.
"I just stood there on the sidelines shaking my head. It made me say to myself that football is over. I wasn't feeling good, I didn't like playing under those circumstances and my bank account was good enough that it was saying, 'Hey man, come rest with us.' "
Wiley finally manages another chuckle.
"I didn't do it because I love the game so much," he says. "So that's why I'm here."
He's with a team that's swooning over the acquisition of top-flight right end Reggie Hayward, who joins a line that includes Pro Bowl tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson.
"What more," Hayward says, "can you ask for as a defensive end?"
Wiley can answer that.
Redemption.
"I'm finally having fun again, but there's also a lot of hard work I have to do to prove some of those naysayers wrong — actually, all of them."
Wiley then smiles broadly and mentions something else, a post-sack ritual he loved to perform in Buffalo and San Diego but couldn't bring himself to break out during his Dallas funk.
"I'm ready," he says, "to dance again."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/jaguars/2005-08-09-wiley_x.htm
New Jaguar Wiley tries to forget failure with Cowboys
By Skip Wood, USA TODAY
JACKSONVILLE — Marcellus Wiley rubs his hand across his face and then over his head to combat the sweat pouring off him.
"Whew!" the defensive end says a minute or two after a Jacksonville Jaguars morning workout amid stifling heat and humidity. "Why don't we just have a seat right here?"
Then he promptly drops to a casual sitting position right there on the field and gestures for his visitor to do likewise, prompting a few of his new teammates to laugh. Someone yells, "What's that? A picnic?"
Wiley, 30, waves a dismissive hand while returning their laughter.
But when the former Pro Bowler and nine-year veteran begins to discuss the last few seasons, the laughter quickly ceases — especially when revisiting last season's one-and-done stint with the Dallas Cowboys.
Wiley, who came in as the team's highest-paid free agent with a $4.5 million signing bonus, had three sacks. He publicly complained immediately after the season about how he was used and indicated he had no desire to return, and the team soon obliged him by letting him go.
Quite a drop from three years ago, when he was named to his first Pro Bowl after registering a career-high 13 sacks his first season with the San Diego Chargers. He had 10½ the previous season with the Buffalo Bills, and the future looked bright for the Columbia graduate, one of the league's handful of Ivy League players.
But after a solid 2002, when he was named a Pro Bowl alternate, he had three sacks the following season before looking to rebound in a big way with the Cowboys. It didn't happen, and so he accepted a one-year, $790,000 deal from the Jaguars. He has been practicing mostly with the second team for the first time since he backed up Bruce Smith with the Bills in the late 1990s.
Wiley knew it would be this way.
"I have a lot to prove to them, and that's understood," he says. "There are two Marcelluses out there, as they see it. They see the guy who had 23 or 24 sacks in two years and made the Pro Bowl and all that kind of good stuff, and then they see the guy who goes to Dallas and is barely running around and he's not getting out of his stance.
"That's OK. I understand that. I'm just glad I have another chance to earn my way and pave my own path."
Jaguars defensive line coach Ray Hamilton is among the more curious observers.
"He's definitely a proven player, but he's not a guaranteed starter for us, so he's got to show that he can make a contribution," Hamilton told the Associated Press. "But he's still a good player and can do some things that will help us win games. But how it pans out, no one knows."
Wiley believes he never had a chance to show his true talent in Dallas, largely because he was switched from left to right end. When he was frequently taken off the field on third downs, he would silently chafe.
"I just stood there on the sidelines shaking my head. It made me say to myself that football is over. I wasn't feeling good, I didn't like playing under those circumstances and my bank account was good enough that it was saying, 'Hey man, come rest with us.' "
Wiley finally manages another chuckle.
"I didn't do it because I love the game so much," he says. "So that's why I'm here."
He's with a team that's swooning over the acquisition of top-flight right end Reggie Hayward, who joins a line that includes Pro Bowl tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson.
"What more," Hayward says, "can you ask for as a defensive end?"
Wiley can answer that.
Redemption.
"I'm finally having fun again, but there's also a lot of hard work I have to do to prove some of those naysayers wrong — actually, all of them."
Wiley then smiles broadly and mentions something else, a post-sack ritual he loved to perform in Buffalo and San Diego but couldn't bring himself to break out during his Dallas funk.
"I'm ready," he says, "to dance again."
