One moment, Jermichael Finley is dreaming of championships and a gold jacket. The Green Bay Packers tight end truly believed he was turning a corner.
The next? He’s motionless. He’s told he may never walk again and starts imagining a life of eating through a straw.
Football can be cruel.
His life completely changed in one split-second.
Thirteen years later, Jermichael Finley tears open those old wounds right here on the Go Long Podcast. Back in my days covering the team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I got to know Finley the player and the person. There simply weren’t tight ends sculpted like this 6-foot-5, 250-pounder. His potential was obvious to everyone watching those record-setting Packers offenses. There were ups and downs. He missed the team’s 2010 Super Bowl run with a meniscus tear in his knee.
And with one collision vs. the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 20, 2013, his career abruptly ended.
Since then, I’ve checked in on Finley a few times. He was never shy answering any questions about his former quarterback. To which, Aaron Rodgers has since responded multiple times. Most recently, the Steelers QB said his former tight end “just wasn’t a smart person.”
So, yes, we Finley’s perspective on this comment. He looks back at their relationship.
I think his view on the dynamic will surprise you, despite the fact that he hasn’t spoken to Rodgers since he laid on a hospital bed 13 years ago.
Above all, Finley has matured into a man completely at peace in life.
Down in Texas, he’s been busy raising five boys with his wife Courtney. His oldest is a wide receiver at Notre Dame, and look out. The next Finley boy (London) is coming.
Jermichael Finley is finding true purpose in life, and that’s a quantum leap for all ex-players… let alone the players whose careers end in such horrific fashion.
Video and audio of our full conversation is above.
I will also share a transcript later today for those who’d prefer to read.
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