Packers tight end Jermichael Finley flashed plenty of potential in his second NFL season, culminating in a wild-card performance against the Cardinals featuring six receptions for 159 yards. He’s now committed to fulfilling his potential on a full-time basis.
According to Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Finley had an epiphany in March -- and he now has big goals.
“I want it all,” Finley tells Bedard. “I want to be the best tight end in the league, and I want to be a better father, husband and teammate. . . . I want people to know they can look at Jermichael Finley and say, ‘That’s a Packer.’ That’s what I’m shooting for.”
He had different priorities in 2009. Per Bedard, Finley was late for roughly six meetings last season, and he missed curfew the night before the playoff game.
“I walked on the floor, and it was like the FBI looking for me,” Finley said. “Just being that young buck, thinking he’s all that.”
During training camp last season, he left without permission so that he could sleep in his own bed, only three miles away.
But the bad decisions continued in the offseason, when Finley fired agent Blake Baratz and re-hired Major Adams, best known for representing Vince Young. Finley went to Austin, Texas for the offseason, and he claims that Adams didn’t have a workout plan for Finley -- and Finley says he “played hard at night” with Adams and Young.
Finley has since re-fired Adams and re-hired Baratz, who was reluctant to take Finley back.
“I want fans to feel they can trust me and believe in me,” Finley said. “The young, immature Finley, I thought he was foolish. And the new Finley, I think is going to do the work, do what he’s supposed to do and be that player the Packers know I can be and all the fans out there too.”
Given that the “foolish” version of Finley caught 55 passes for 676 yards and five touchdowns during the 2009 regular season, the sky could be the limit for this newly-minted non-knucklehead.