Big Dawg can run and catch

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 10, 2006

SEATTLE – Tyrone Willingham harkened back to 1979, when Michigan State featured a 6-foot-9 point guard who dribbled, passed and ran better than most anyone that size.

“Most people would have made him a center,” Willingham said. “But someone had the foresight not to make Ervin “Magic” Johnson a center. In the basketball world and all of athletics, (things) have changed. The way you look at people has been altered.”

Case in point? Marcel Reece.

When you first see Reece, you think you’re looking at a linebacker, maybe even a lineman. Big head, big arms, big chest, big everything. Look at the roster, though, and you see that Reece is a wide receiver. Make that, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound wide receiver.

But he’s slow, right? Doesn’t get off the line well, can’t really accelerate? Nope.

At a recent junior college combine, Reece ran back-to-back 4.4-second 40-yard dashes.

The guy is kind of a freak.

“I’ve never seen anyone like him,” Huskies quarterback Isaiah Stanback said. “To be that big and that fast, it’s going to allow us to do some things that we haven’t been able to do. Everyone will look at him and say how big he is, but he’s not just a big guy. He can do a lot of things.”

If Jake Locker is the most intriguing newcomer to the Washington football team, then Reece isn’t far behind. While the Huskies have some experienced, solid receivers returning, none of them seem to have Reese’s physical capabilities. The Huskies lost their big deep-threat in the offseason when former Jackson High star Craig Chambers transferred to Montana, and another candidate for that spot, Duke transfer Chancellor Young, is out for the season with academic trouble.

But is Reece too big? He could get away with being that size playing at El Camino (California) Community College, but will he be quick enough to beat Pacific-10 cornerbacks?

Reece said he’d like to play at 225 pounds, but doesn’t feel he’s that big now, and isn’t too worried about his weight anyway.

“Everyone’s seen me run, everyone’s seen me carry the ball,” Reece said. “What (Willingham) told me was, ‘Marcel, if you’re 280, if you’re comfortable playing there, that’s what I want you to play at.’ It’s all about me being comfortable.”

“The issue isn’t size, the issue is performance,” Willingham said. “If he is 290 and can perform at a 4.5 level and catch every pass thrown to him, would you change him?”

Reece has shown in the past that he can perform at a heavy weight. In his first season of junior college ball – at Chaffey (California) CC in 2004, he had 25 catches for 600 yards and seven touchdowns. He transferred to El Camino last season, playing at 235 pounds, and had 47 catches for 1,286 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was rated the No. 3 junior college receiver in the nation by JCFootball.com and the No. 2 receiver by Rivals.com.

Pretty good numbers for a guy who only played two years of high school football and enjoyed basketball and track just as much. He hoped that a four-year school would give him a chance to do multiple sports, but that didn’t happen, so he went to junior college to figure out what he wanted to do.

“I only played football two years in high school – my junior and senior year – that’s all I ever played,” Reece said “It was the best decision for me, but I didn’t think so at the time.”

Junior college wasn’t only where Reece decided he wanted to be a football player, it was also where he started to grow. And grow. And grow. He left high school at 195 pounds.

“I started lifting three times a day and eating,” Reece said. “I looked up and I was like 252. But I got that right back down.”

But not too far down. Willingham said he’s never had a receiver as big as Reece, but he added that the times are changing.

“When I came along, a 300-pounder would not have played football, would not even be on the team,” Willingham said. “He’s too big, too fat, too slow, can’t play. Lose some weight and come back. Since that time, we’ve changed our perspective.”

Reece has forged a good relationship with Stanback, who hosted Reece on his recruiting visit. They live in the same building and attend the same church, and Reece said he believes that once they start getting reps together, they should form a productive duo.

“It’s almost like matching personalities,” Reece said. “It’s like we’ve known each other forever.”

“We’re a lot alike,” Stanback said. “Ever since we met each other, we’ve pushed each other to get better.”