Michael Deshawn Wiley (born January 5, 1978) is a former professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

Early life

Wiley attended Monte Vista High School, where as a senior he ran for 1,901 yards and 23

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, en route to being named a high school

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and ranking as the country's No. 2

prospect according to Bluechip Illustrated. He finished his high school career with 3,417 rushing yards and 38

s. He also practiced track and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from

. Although he never played the position before, as a true freshman he appeared in 8 games as a backup

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and was also a reserve at

in 4 games, registering 23 carries for 176 yards and 6 receptions for 194 yards. He scored touchdowns the first three times he touched the ball as a collegian, while playing against

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

in 1996 (a 49-yard reverse run and receptions of 51 and 60 yards). As a sophomore, he had 588 rushing yards, a 5.6-yard average and 6 touchdowns. He also had a 26.6-yard average in kickoff returns, including a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

. He rushed for 121 yards against

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and had an 8-yard touchdown pass against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. As a junior, he earned the starter tailback job, rushing for 1,258 yards (second in the conference) on 198 carries for a 6.2-yard average and 10 touchdowns. He also had 26 receptions (third on the team) for 200 yards and 6 kickoffs returns for a 23.8-yard average. He had a 209-yard rushing performance (10th best in school history) in a win over

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The team finished 11-1 and beat

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. As a senior, he posted 183 carries for 952 rushing yards (led the team) and 10 touchdowns. He also completed all 5 of his passing attempts for 123 yards and one touchdown, while adding 14 catches (third on the team) for 153 yards and one touchdown. He was the team's all-purpose yardage leader with an average of 101.6 yards-per-game. Though he was only a two-year starter (22 starts), he finished a distinguished playing career after recording 509 carries for 2,951 rushing yards (seventh in school history), 3,176 total offense yards, 4,194 all-purpose yards (seventh in school history), ten 100-yard games, 56 receptions and 35 touchdowns. He also completed 10-of-11 pass attempts for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Professional career

Wiley was selected by the

in the fifth round (144th overall) of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

. Because of his versatility, he was drafted with the plan of converting him into a slot wide receiver. The experiment didn't last long and he was named the third-string

in December, after the release of Chris Warren. He appeared in 10 games, registering 24 carries for 88 yards, 14 receptions for 72 yards, one touchdown, 13 kickoff returns for 303 yards (23.3 yard avg.) and 7

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, he was involved 30 times on third down and picked up a first down on 14 of those chances (46.7% conversion rate). He finished with 34 carries for 247 rushing yards (7.3 avg.) and 16 receptions for 99 yards, one

and 4

tackles. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he missed most of preseason with a sprained right ankle. He continued as the team's third-down back, averaging 8.9 yards from scrimmage every time he touched the football. In all, he had 35 plays from scrimmage, recording 22 carries for 168 yards (7.6 yard avg.) and 13 receptions for 144 yards (11.1 yard avg.). On

, he contributed on both coverage and return teams, making 9 tackles. During his NFL career, he battled with injuries at different times. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, after the Cowboys hired new head coach

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells ( ; born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He came to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 19 ...

, Wiley missed valuable preseason time with a rotator cuff injury. On August 25, he was waived after being passed for the third-down back role by

Aveion Cason Aveion Marquel Cason (born July 12, 1979) is an American former professional football running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Flo ...

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Since his retirement from professional football, Wiley has been active in the Ohio Democratic Party. He also has two kids, a daughter, and a son.

References

External links

Former OSU running back living his dream after NFL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiley, Michael 1978 births Living people People from Spring Valley, San Diego County, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California American football running backs Ohio State Buckeyes football players Dallas Cowboys players Monte Vista High School (Spring Valley, California) alumni