NFL alum and former ESPN host Marcellus Wiley is sued over an alleged rape at Columbia University in 1994: Plaintiff claims Ivy League football star 'forced her face down and took her virginity' in a freshman dorm

Retired NFL defensive lineman and ESPN host Marcellus Wiley is being sued for allegedly raping a student at Columbia University while he attended the Ivy League school in 1994.

Now an Ivy League professor and sociologist, the alleged victim is suing the 48-year-old Wiley in in New York Supreme Court, claiming that he forced himself on her in her freshman dormitory, according to a lawsuit obtained by the New York Post.

The plaintiff, who has not been identified by name, says she lost her virginity as a result of the alleged rape and later attempted suicide.

'[Wiley's] actions were intentionally designed to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress or were taken with reckless disregard of the significant and/or substantial probability of causing plaintiff severe emotional distress,' the lawsuit states.

Wiley would go on to be a second-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 1997, embarking  on a decorated 10-year NFL career. Ultimately he would go on to become an ESPN and Fox Sports analyst before launching his own podcast. 

A request for comment was left with Wiley's foundation, Project Transition, but the organization did not immediately respond. 

The plaintiff claims that she and Wiley were friends prior to the fall of 1994, when he invited himself into her dorm room in upper Manhattan saying that he wanted to have dinner together and listen to music. 

She says she made it clear to Wiley that she was uninterested in sex because she was a virgin.

Initially, she claims in the lawsuit, Wiley agreed. 

'Ain't nobody tryna have sex with no virgin!' he allegedly said. 'Don't worry, I got you. Just coming to hang out while I eat. I don't even have condoms on me.'

However, according to the filing obtained by the Post, Wiley began to rip her clothes off after entering the room and 'forced her facedown onto the mattress' before raping her multiple times. 

The plaintiff claims she feared for her life and struggled to breathe during the attack.  

The plaintiff says she briefly escaped and nearly fled the room naked before Wiley pulled her back into bed and continued assaulting her.

She later described the attack to a friend before approaching a series of Columbia University administrators, whom the plaintiff claims worked to protect Wiley.

Saying that they had a 'fondness' for the budding football star.

Wiley was approached by one administrator about the allegations, but 'just disagreed that it's rape,' according to the lawsuit.

Later, a residential dean, who has since died, accused the plaintiff of misunderstanding the encounter because the student was a foreigner, who came from the Republic of Cabo Verde, an archipelago and island country in the central Atlantic Ocean.

'[The residential dean] then told plaintiff that, in [her] opinion, defendant had not actually raped plaintiff, because plaintiff was not from America and had therefore misinterpreted defendant's conduct because ''people from different cultures interpret things differently,''' reads the lawsuit.

As a consequence, Wiley wasn't expelled, but was rather placed on academic probation and ultimately completed the Spring semester from his native Los Angeles in 1995.

He returned to campus and the football team in the Fall.

Columbia University spokespeople did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.