Things weren’t supposed to happen this way. Had everything gone according to plan, Dee Finley would have enrolled in school at the University of Florida last fall and played a part in the Gators winning the SEC and national championships. Like everyone else on the team he would be waiting eagerly for his national championship ring to arrive.
That’s what was supposed to happen. Then came a bump in the road.
Due to a transcript snafu, Finley was unable to enroll at Florida during the summer of 2008 with the rest of his freshman class. After all the hard work he put in towards being able to make it into school, Finley now found himself headed down a different route, a route that would take him all the way to the Milford Academy in New Berlin, New York.
He came so close to qualifying but when fall practice started for the Gators last August, Finley found himself across the country from Gainesville. Despite the disappointment, Finley set out to make himself better — a better student, a better football player and a better person.
He’s where he wanted to be all along now, in school in Gainesville and wearing a Florida uniform. After Florida opened spring practice on Wednesday, Finley looked back on the journey to Florida that took a little longer than expected.
“It was one of the toughest things,” Finley said. “It was a lot of motivation, though. Seeing how good these guys were and where I was coming to. I called everyday. I talked to Will (Hill), Janoris (Jenkins) and everybody. Just keeping in touch.”
Finley would grow during his time in prep school. While it wasn’t the most fun experience, it was one that proved beneficial for one of the more highly-touted prospects in the Class of 2008.
“It helped me a lot academically,” he said. “It helped me learn responsibility.”
Now that Finley has made it to Gainesville, he has one goal in mind — to find a way onto the football field. With a loaded depth chart at safety, it will be no easy task, but after reporting to spring practice at a chiseled 6-2, 211 pounds, there is no doubting that Finley has the physical makeup to find his way onto the football field.
Now he just has to learn the finer parts of playing the game at a SEC-caliber level.
“I’ve got a long way to go,” Finley said. “I’m just trying to contribute somewhere.”
Although he could be easily confused with some of the linebackers currently populating the Gator roster, the plan for Finley currently consists of learning the nuances of the defensive backfield under the tutelage of co-defensive coordinator Chuck Heater.
Asked where he expects to play, Finley answered, “Both [safety positions] right now … I’m working more [strong safety] than anything.”
While the going may have been tough at Milford, Finley and his fellow freshmen have found the intensity level that exists at the University of Florida to be a, well, little tougher than what most are accustomed to. Mat drills were a brand new experience.
“We all got shocked when we got here,” Finley said of the winter conditioning workouts that he and five other early enrollees were subjected to for the first time. “Everything is harder. [Going] 100% in everything you do. I’m not used to that yet.”
What makes Finley’s oddysey to Gainesville a little bit more intriguing is that he came to Florida from Auburn, Alabama. First off, the Gators got him out of Alabama, which is no small task, and secondly, he grew up in Auburn.
So just how did one of the top safeties in the country, who grew up just blocks away from Jordan-Hare Stadium, end up in Gainesville for college?
“I just wanted to go to the best school, the best program,” he said. “[Auburn] was a part of it, but I just wanted to get away from home.”
After watching a pair of young safeties in Ahmad Black and Major Wright step up over the course of the 2008 season, along with the inspired play of fellow 2008 Under Armour All-American Will Hill, Finley never wavered in his desire to be a Gator.
“Oh no, I was 100% the whole time,” he said.
The words echoed by Finley on Wednesday were genuine. Real. The sentiments that you would hope to hear from 84 other scholarship players as well.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here, finally.”
While the talent at safety may keep him from being an immediate star, Dee Finley will not be denied. Talent was never an issue but with an added sense of purpose it’s only a matter of time before the bone crushing hits that Dee Finley delivered on the high school level (with one of the most notable being against Julio Jones at the 2008 Under Armour All-American Game) become a mainstay on Saturday afternoons in The Swamp.