Cullen Finnerty

Cullen Finnerty (August 18, 1982 – May 27, 2013) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Grand Valley State, leading the Grand Valley Lakers to NCAA Division II Football Championships in 2003, 2005, and 2006. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2007.

Finnerty was found dead on May 28, 2013, in Lake County, Michigan.

Finnerty was born in Brighton, Michigan, and prepped at Brighton High School, located in Livingston County. He was awarded the Livingston County Football Player of the Year award as a senior, and was named to the Ann Arbor News All-Area First-team, and Michigan All-State Honorable Mention. Finnerty threw for 1,954 yards and rushed for 636 yards. As a junior, he was named the Ann Arbor News Player of the Year, as well as all-area, all-league and all-Livingston county. Finnerty threw for 459 yards and kicked three field goals in his first playoff game as a junior. Finnerty also lettered in track & field and baseball. [1]

• Livingston County Player of the Year (Senior year)
• Ann Arbor News All-Area First-team
• Ann Arbor News Player of the Year (Junior year)
• Honorable mention all-state
• All-area, all-league and all-county (Junior year)

In 2001, Cullen Finnerty redshirted his true freshman year at the University of Toledo.

Finnerty transferred to Grand Valley State University in 2002, but he did not play that season. In 2003, he joined the Grand Valley Football team for his first year of eligibility as a freshman.

Finnerty was awarded 2003 GLIAC conference Freshman of the Year award, and was named GVSU's Rookie of the Year. He was a two-time GLIAC Player of the Week, and was named Football.com Div II Player of the Week. Finnerty earned his first varsity letter as a freshman after starting 14 games. He completed 230-of-363 passes for 2,764 yards and 22 touchdowns, completing 63.4% of his passes. Finnerty was ranked 12th in pass efficiency rating (144.02) and 26th in total offense (256.9) in NCAA Div. II. He rushed for 822 yards and nine touchdowns himself, and also caught one pass as a receiver, for nine yards. Finnerty completed 20 or more passes in a game three times in the season, and broke the 200-yard passing mark six times, including two games of over 300 yards. He completed 19-of-29 passes for 149 yards and rushed for 78 yards on 19 carries in the NCAA Div II National Championship game vs. North Dakota. [2]

In his sophomore year, Finnerty started all 11 games at quarterback. He completed 192-of-333 passes for 2,462 yards and 25 touchdowns, averaging 189.4 yards passing per game. He rushed for 458 yards and five touchdowns on 139 carries. Finnerty tallied 224.6 yards of total offense (passing and rushing) per game. He was ranked 26th in the nation in passing efficiency (138.5), and 42nd in NCAA Division II in total offense per game at 225.4. He was fourth in the GLIAC in both passing yards (189.4) and total offense (225.4) per game. [3]

With GVSU winning the NCAA Division II National Championship, as a junior Finnerty was named the 2005 GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year, and First-team All-GLIAC Quarterback. Finnerty was given Honorable Mention on Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-American Team. Finnerty completed 157-of-273 passes for 2,459 yards and 22 touchdowns, while rushing for 523 yards and nine touchdowns himself on the season. In the National Championship match versus Northwest Missouri State University, Finnerty completed 12-of-19 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown, while rushing himself for 59 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries in the win. [4]

Through his first 3 seasons, Finnerty recorded a 36–4 record as a starting QB, and produced a 9–1 NCAA Div. II playoff record. He achieved 9,488 offensive yards and 92 career touchdowns, passing for 7,685 yards and 69 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,803 yards and 23 touchdowns. Finnerty ranked second in career total offense at GVSU with 9,488 yards, and third in career passing yards with 7,685 yards, and all with another season yet to play.

As a senior quarterback, Finnerty became the winningest quarterback in NCAA history for all divisions, with a career record as a starting quarterback of 51–4, and he was named to the 2006 American Football Coaches Association All America Team ^{[link removed]}. Finnerty also earned Daktronics First-team All American honors ^{[link removed]}. He finished the 2006 GVSU season with a 15–0 record, completing 195 of 343 passes for 3,220 passing yards and 41 touchdowns, and leading the nation in quarterback efficiency with 169.32. Finnerty also rushed for 580 yards and 8 touchdowns himself, totalling 3,800 offensive yards and 49 touchdowns on the season, for an average offense of 253.3 yards per game [5] Archived November 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine . Finnerty was awarded second place for the Harlon Hill Trophy award ^{[link removed]}, just prior to the NCAA Div II national championship match in Florence, Alabama. In the title match versus Northwest Missouri State University, Finnerty completed 15-of-33 passes for 225 yards and rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries for 340 yards of total offense, passing for one touchdown and running for another. Finnerty became the first quarterback in NCAA Division II Championship game history to pass for over 200 yards and also rush for over 100.

Sources:

• 51–4 career record as a starting quarterback—the winningest quarterback in college football history, regardless of NCAA Division
• 2003 GLIAC Freshman of the Year
• 2003 GVSU Rookie of the Year
• GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week 2003(2 times)
• D2Football.com Player of the Week 2003
• 2005 GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year
• GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week 2006 (2 times)
• 2006 GLIAC Player of the Year
• 2006 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches' All-America Team
• 2006 Daktronics First-team All American
• Finalist, 2006 Harlon Hill Trophy – 2nd place
• D2Football.com Player of the Decade (2000–2009)

After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft, Finnerty was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. However, he was released by the team in July before the preseason.

Finnerty was re-signed to the practice squad during the season, and was promoted to the active roster for the final two games of the season after an injury to Kyle Boller.

An exclusive-rights free agent in the 2008 offseason, Finnerty was not tendered a contract by the Ravens.

On March 27, 2008, Finnerty was signed by the Denver Broncos.

On June 13, 2008, Finnerty was placed on waivers by the Broncos.

In October 2008, Finnerty joined the Cineplexx Blue Devils of Austria. The Blue Devils play in the Austrian Football League second highest level currently.

Finnerty led the team to win the Bodensee Cup tournament. He threw three touchdown passes, ran for a touchdown, and kicked a 26-yard field goal in a 31–13 win over the Swiss national team in the Bodensee Cup title game.

Finnerty was named MVP of the tournament.

Finnerty was the starting quarterback of the Muskegon Thunder of the CIFL. In 2009 in two games, he had 123 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns to go along with a completion percentage of 46.9 for the 2009 Indoor Football League season.

Cullen Finnerty's parents Tim and Maureen Finnerty live in Brighton, Michigan. Cullen and his wife Jennifer lived in Michigan with their two small children.

On May 26, 2013, Finnerty was reported missing after he went fishing on the Baldwin River in Michigan.

On the evening of May 28, Finnerty was found dead in the woods by local search crews one mile from his fishing boat in Lake County, Michigan. His body had no signs of trauma and was dressed for the elements. An autopsy, released in August 2013, showed Finnerty died of pneumonia brought on by inhalation of vomit after he became disoriented. It has been suggested that this was related to chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Finnerty was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

The New York Times ran an article about his life and death in June 2013.