JIM FINN: Finding his way home
From age seven retired Giants fullback Jim Finn had dreams of playing for the NFL. The New Jersey native grew up going to a stadium near his hometown watching the pros with the vision of being in their position. “I told my dad, ‘I can do that’ and his response was ‘I know.’ It was a true, honest feeling that I had, and nothing was going to stop that.” With the encouragement from his father, the next move would be making the top pick and enjoying a long-lasting career in the NFL, but Finn’s football career would be a little more challenging than he expected.
In the 1999 NFL Draft, Jim Finn would be chosen in the seventh round as the 253rd pick for the Chicago Bears and also be crowned as Mr. Irrelevant. “When I found out I was Mr. Irrelevant there was excitement, but I also took it seriously that I was going in the NFL to make it,” he said. Irrelevant Week honored Finn in Newport Beach California for a week long of activities that gave him a boost before he headed off to training camp. Being the last pick did not stop Finn from working to achieve his goals. The time was considered motivation to continue to work hard for his spot on the team. He had a mindset of never giving up and continuing to follow his dreams. He described it as a challenge “to motivate and push me further to be another success story and defy the odds.”
Finn signed to the Chicago Bears, but his time there was short lived after he was sent to the practice team. It made him think. “I remember when I got released from the Bears I was sitting out in the conference room of the hotel and I had a degree and I felt like I had nowhere to go in life because my only vision was the NFL,” he said. With that vision Finn went to live in Florida where he blocked out the outside life to focus on continuing his dream to play in the NFL. Finn would find himself again training for another team, and this time a team that would be more permanent, “Before I went to camp I already believed that I made the team because of what I did in the off-season and my mentality was no one was working as hard and I was. Nothing that is worth it in life comes easy.”
Finn would go on to play for the Colts in 2000 until being traded to the Giants where he played from 2003 to 2007. When asked if he would change anything about his career, Finn said “the experience I had with the Bears prepared me for my time and my chance and opportunities with the colts so I wouldn’t change anything. If I had gone to the Colts as a free agent I’m not sure I would have been ready for it. Just by having one year of training camp and the off-season and learning about the NFL and what it takes; I think the bears and that draft experience prepared me for the following year with the Colts.”
The eight years Finn spent in the NFL, accomplishing his dream and having the opportunity to play in the stadium 15 minutes away from his hometown, the same stadium where he and his dad watched 50 NFL games together when he was a kid, couldn’t have made Finn more proud about his success with the NFL. “There is no greater feeling than playing for a professional team in front of your hometown crowd and your parents can come to the game and tailgate like they did in high school,” he said. “That’s where I dreamed of playing in the NFL when I watched those players play when I was seven.”
His advice that would help him continue through his journey was “always be consistent”. When asked what being undefeated means to him, he responded, “actually getting beat and knocked down and getting back up and being better, because, that is the true test. Whether you are conquering anything or not, that’s the true measure of success in an athlete, at least in my eyes.”
Originally published at kendradouglas.wix.com.
