Former NFL Pro Bowler Marcellus Wiley accused of raping two women at Columbia University

Yahoo

15-03-2025

Former NFL Pro Bowler Marcellus Wiley is facing new allegations that he raped two women while attending Columbia University in the 1990s.
The two accusers filed lawsuits last week claiming Wiley attacked them in separate incidents in his dorm room in 1994 when he was a star two-way player for the Columbia Lions, playing both running back and defensive end.
Wiley, 50, had already faced assault allegations from other female students.
He was first publicly accused of rape in a November 2023 lawsuit by a woman who claimed she was a virgin when the footballer attacked her at the Ivy League school in 1994. He called the allegations 'BS' in a lengthy YouTube video.
One of the new accusers alleges the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Wiley — who later parlayed 10 seasons in the NFL playing for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers into a broadcast career — barely removed her clothes before the assault.
The woman, who now lives in Texas and is identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, described how Wiley pressured her for sex after she accepted his invite to his dorm room on Oct. 27, 1994, according to the lawsuit.
She said 'no repeatedly,' with Wiley chiding that she was 'too uptight and needed to relax,' she said in court papers. Wiley then cranked up his stereo, moved closer and accosted her, she alleged.
'Wiley then swung [her] legs on the bed, lunged towards her and overpowered [her],' holding her down as he whispered to her 'to relax, enjoy it, stop crying, and stop fighting the feeling,' she claimed in the filing.
The victim, a Barnard student, later reported the incident to a Columbia University administrator who urged her not to file a criminal complaint and that if she pursued one, Jane Doe 'would be known as the girl who destroyed a black man's NFL dream.'
The second anonymous new accuser, now a California resident, was assaulted about a month later, also in Wiley's dorm room, she claimed in legal papers.
After his pro career — where he was named to the Pro Bowl three times and was nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year three times for his volunteer and charity work — he went on to a TV career that included co-hosting ESPN's 'SportsNation,' and later Fox Sport's 1's 'Speak for Yourself.' He also appeared on Bravo's 'Millionaire Matchmaker' in 2011.
He married nurse anesthetist Annemarie Wiley in 2014, with whom he shares four kids. Last year she appeared on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills before she was abruptly fired. It's unclear why she was let go from the program.
The victims are seeking unspecified damages.
Columbia University declined comment. A lawyer for Wiley did not respond to requests for comment.