Benjamin J. Isaac Finney II (born October 26, 1991) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, and was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in 2015. Finney also played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Early years

Finney was born in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. He attended high school at Andale High School in the Wichita suburb of Andale. He was an unranked two-star recruit for the class of 2010. He committed to

. He was a state

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

champ his senior year.

College career

Finney

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. His redshirt freshman year he started in 12 games, only missing the first game. He was named All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

twice, honorable mention as a sophomore and first-team as a senior.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Kansas State, Finney was projected to be selected in the fourth or fifth round by the majority of

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

experts and scouts. He received an invitation to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

and completed nearly all the required combine drills, only missing the

three-cone drill The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by scouts. It is most commonly seen at the NFL Combine in p ...

due to a back injury. On March 10, 2015, he participated at Kansas State's

pro day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

and opted to stand on his combine numbers and only perform positional drills for the team representatives and scouts from 15 NFL teams. Along with Finney,

Tyler Lockett Tyler Deron Lockett (born September 28, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college f ...

, Curry Sexton, and seven other draft prospects attended Kansas State's pro day. He was ranked as the third best

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

available on the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. NFL Draft analysts and scouts referred to him as a "plug and play" starter.

Pittsburgh Steelers (first stint)

2015

The

signed Finney as an undrafted rookie free agent immediately following the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. Even though he was a highly sought after undrafted free agent, he opted to sign with the Steelers as they were his favorite NFL team as a child. Finney's surprising fall in the draft was said to be in part due to teams' fearing his arms were too short and that he lacked technique and athleticism. Finney competed with fellow rookie

Reese Dismukes Reese Dismukes (born October 20, 1992) is a former American football center. Early years Dismukes attended Spanish Fort High School in Spanish Fort, Alabama, where he played football and competed in track. He was a four-star recruit by Rivals.c ...

and veteran

Cody Wallace Cody Layne Wallace (born November 26, 1984) is a former American football Guard (American football), guard and Center (American football), center. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played col ...

to be the Steelers' backup center behind

Maurkice Pouncey LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey (born July 24, 1989) is a former American football center who played 11 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida, where he was a member of a BCS Na ...

. On September 3, 2015, he left the Steelers final preseason 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

with an injury. As a result, Finney was waived with an injury designation and subsequently reverted to the Steelers'

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 th ...

list before being released with an injury settlement on September 5, 2015. On September 29, 2015, the Steelers signed Finney to their

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

after releasing

Barrett Jones Barrett A. Jones (born May 25, 1990) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Rams in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He atten ...

2016

Finney entered his training camp in 2016 competing with Wallace, Cole Manhart, and Chris Hubbard for the job to be backup

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

or center. He was named the third string offensive guard behind Ramon Foster and Hubbard to begin his second season and the third string center behind Pouncey and Wallace. On January 18, 2016, the Steelers signed him to a reserve/future contract. On October 2, 2016, Finney received his first career start against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

after left guard Foster was unable to play due to injury. He finished the season with three starts in 13 games.

2017

He competed with Ethan Cooper and Lucas Crowley for the backup offensive guard position and competed with Mike Matthews and Kyle Friend. Head coach

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, se ...

named Finney the backup center to Pouncey and the backup left guard to Foster to begin the regular season. On October 15, 2017, Finney earned his first start of the 2017 season, helping the Steelers defeat the Chiefs 19–13. He started at left guard in place of Foster, who was out with a back injury.

2018

Finney entered the 2018 season as a backup guard. He played in all 16 games, starting two at right guard in place of an injured

David DeCastro David William DeCastro (born January 11, 1990) is a former American football guard. He played college football for Stanford University, and earned unanimous All-American honors. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round of the 20 ...

2019

On March 6, 2019, the Steelers placed a second-round restricted free agent tender on Finney. He played in all 16 games, making 4 starts.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 23, 2020, Finney signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the

. He played in 6 games for the Seahawks before being traded.

Cincinnati Bengals

On October 28, 2020, Finney and a seventh-round draft pick in the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

were traded to the

for defensive end

Carlos Dunlap Carlos Dunlap (born February 28, 1989) is an American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida where he won a National Championship in 2009. He was drafted by ...

. Finney was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the Bengals on November 25, 2020, and activated on November 28. He was placed on the reserve/

non-football injury list Non-football injury and non-football illness (NFI) are roster designations used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who are unable to practice as a result of conditions unrelated to football, or injuries that did not occur during NFL g ...

on December 31, 2020. Finney was released on March 5, 2021. Finney's only appearance with the Bengals was on November 15, 2020 against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)

Finney signed a one-year contract with the Steelers on March 12, 2021. He suffered a back injury in Week 13 and was placed on injured reserve on December 15. He retired on June 7, 2022.

References

External links

Kansas State Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, B.J. 1991 births Living people American football centers Cincinnati Bengals players Kansas State Wildcats football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas Seattle Seahawks players