James Finn Jr. (born December 9, 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 ...

player who was a fullback 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 player

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 ...

for the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. Sponsored teams Men's varsit ...

and was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as the final pick of the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

Early life

Finn was born in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

and grew up in

Fair Lawn, New Jersey Fair Lawn is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a bedroom community, bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the boro ...

. He attended

Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. Bergen Catholic operates under the supervision of the Roman ...

Oradell, New Jersey Oradell is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,244, an increase of 266 (+3.3%) from the 2010 census count of 7,978, which in turn reflected a decline ...

, where he was involved in both football and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. An All-State pick in both sports, he was the 189-pound class state champion and posted a 33–2 record as a senior. Because no

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

recruiters were seeking him, Finn sought a

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

program and committed with the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

College career

Finn was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

while playing

at the

, where he accumulated 2,277 rushing yards, which ranks as the fourth-highest total in school history. He also scored 180 points for fifth on the all-time list. He was an All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

player as a senior and junior. In his senior season, Finn set school records for yards, rushing attempts, and rushing touchdowns. Penn first experimented with having Finn play both offense and defense on October 18, 1997, against Columbia. In that game, Finn ran for 138 yards on 24 carries including one touchdown for 15 yards but fumbled on Columbia's 3-yard line on a 50-yard run. With the 24–7 win, Penn beat Columbia for the first time since 1994. In addition to being named an All-Ivy Team member, Finn was named Player of the Year. He also holds school records for most rushing attempts, rushing yards, and touchdowns in a game. Before being converted permanently into a fullback, Finn briefly played as a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, even starting a few games as a sophomore. While at Penn, Finn became a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity. Finn also attended the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

at Penn and graduated with a degree in

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

in 1999.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Playing history

Finn was selected as the final pick of the

(nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant) by the Chicago Bears. He was waived and spent time on their practice squad. Finn signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in early 2000 where he ran for 44 yards in six rushing attempts and 10 receptions over three seasons. In 2003, Finn signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. "To have a career, Finn beat the odds. He was a lightly regarded player at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J. He moved to fullback at Penn, giving him a better chance to become a pro." In his Giants career, Finn had 21 rushing yards from five attempts. He saw more action as a receiver out of the backfield, with 325 receiving yards and 42 receptions. In 2005, Finn played in all 16 regular season games with 13 starts including the NFC

National Football League playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs is the annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the league champion. The four-round tournament is held after the league's regular season. Since the 2020 season, seven teams from each of ...

wild card game against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. His blocks for

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber Sr. (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 10-year career as a running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college fo ...

helped Barber rush for a franchise-record 1,860 yards. Finn was primarily a blocking fullback for the Giants. Finn missed the entire

2007 New York Giants season The 2007 season was the New York Giants' 83rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 32nd playing their home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and their fourth under head coach Tom Coughlin. The Giants finished th ...

after being placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. That year, he became a Super Bowl champion when the Giants won

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. After the season, Finn was cut due to nagging injuries and the emergence of

Madison Hedgecock Madison Smith Hedgecock (born August 27, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina. He w ...

. Finn and Brandon Stokley are the only players in NFL history to have caught an offensive pass from both

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...

and

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

Personal life

He is the son of James and Jane Finn. Finn married actress

Rosa Blasi Rosa Blasi Harris (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, author, model, singer, and therapist. She is known for her roles as Luisa Delgado in the Lifetime medical drama series ''Strong Medicine'' and Barb Thunderman in the Nickelodeon s ...

on February 14, 2004, in

Maui, Hawaii Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

. They had one daughter Kaia (September 20, 2006) and divorced in 2008. Finn is a resident in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

. He has also lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Finn was a named plaintiff in one of the lawsuits filed by former NFL players against the league, alleging that the NFL had failed to warn its players about the risk of long term damage from repeated concussions incurred from playing football.Lisa Rose
"Former NFL players say they didn't know Toradol hid concussions"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'', December 6, 2011.

References

External links

*
Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Jim 1976 births Living people American football fullbacks Bergen Catholic High School alumni Chicago Bears players Indianapolis Colts players New York Giants players Penn Quakers football players Sportspeople from Fair Lawn, New Jersey Sportspeople from Hermosa Beach, California Players of American football from Teaneck, New Jersey Players of American football from Hackensack, New Jersey Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Wharton School alumni