Brian Joseph Finneran (born January 31, 1976) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

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). He was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 1998 and also played for the Barcelona Dragons,

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. 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 ...

at Villanova.

Early life

Finneran attended

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) is a coeducational college preparatory Roman Catholic high school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, United States. SMCHS is owned and operated by the Diocese of Orange, and was opened i ...

in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and finished his three-year career there with a school career-record 177 receptions. Finneran received scholarship offers to play

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

and

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

. However, the only school to offer a football scholarship to both Finneran and his twin brother was Villanova.

College career

Finneran and his identical twin brother, Brad, played college football for

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and were lettermen. As a senior, Finneran had 96 receptions for 1,389 yards, earning

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 ...

n honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and being awarded the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the nation's top Division I-AA offensive player. He had 265 receptions for 3,872 yards and 34 touchdowns over his entire college career. He had his number 25 jersey retired by Villanova in the fall of 2003.

Professional career

Prior to joining the Falcons, Finneran played for the NFL Europa Barcelona Dragons where he was named All-NFL Europe. After coming to America and joining the Falcons, he proved to be a consistent possession receiver. Finneran tore ligaments in his left knee during Falcons practice on July 30, 2006, and missed the entire 2006 season. He missed his second straight season after tearing the reconstructed

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his left knee. Before injuries forced him to miss the previous two seasons, he was the preferred target of

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

despite generally starting in the slot receiver position. He returned to the field in 2008 but did not start and saw limited action. He was re-signed to a one-year contract on February 11, 2010.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

He is one of the four hosts on ''The Locker Room'', a morning sports talk show on

WCNN WCNN (680 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station city of license, licensed to Brookhaven, Georgia, North Atlanta and serving the Atlanta metropolitan area, Atlanta-area radio market. It is owned by Dickey Broadcasting and airs a sports radio ra ...

680 The Fan in Atlanta. He is also currently an ambassador for USA Football. He made his television color commentary debut on April 2, 2016, for the Villanova Team Stream on

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

for the 2016 Men's Basketball Final Four.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finneran, Brian 1976 births Living people Players of American football from Mission Viejo, California American football return specialists American football wide receivers Villanova Wildcats football players Atlanta Falcons players Philadelphia Eagles players Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) players Walter Payton Award winners Santa Margarita Catholic High School alumni