"You've made it."
That was the emotional thought that crossed Penn alumnus and current New York Giants fullback Jim Finn's mind as he stood in front of more than 78,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City for his first NFL game.
Through hard work and dedication, Finn had realized his own dream to play in the NFL, which originated as a 6-year-old playing youth football in his native Fair Lawn, N.J.
"I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes, and I was like, 'You made it, you did it,'" Finn said. "I made it the hard way -- nothing was given to me. Coming from Penn, especially, you have to work even harder."
Growing up, Finn took after his older sister and played every sport that he could, but he concentrated on football, wrestling and baseball.
Finn was raised a die-hard New York Jets fan, and as a kid he idolized the play of Jets' running back Freeman McNeil.
While attending Bergen Catholic High School, Finn excelled at both football and wrestling. He earned all-state honors in the 185-pound weight class, while also being part of a state championship football team.
With his heart set on continuing athletics in college, Finn looked at schools such as Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire for football and Lehigh for wrestling. But he eventually decided on Penn because of the balanced mix of academics and athletics.
"Coming to Penn speaks for itself," Finn said. "The education is second to none, and football is not going to be there forever, so I think I made the wise decision. If football worked out, which it did, I thought if I was capable of playing, they would find me wherever I was."
When Finn came in as a freshman in 1995, Penn coach Al Bagnoli moved the former high school star to the defensive side of the ball because he already had two experienced running backs, Jasen Scott and Aman Abye.
"We didn't want to waste him, so we put him on defense early," Bagnoli said. "But in hindsight, we thought we should have had him carrying the ball right from his freshman year."
However, when Finn got the opportunity to return to his natural position in his junior year in 1997, he took full advantage, as the record books indicate.
Finn holds the single-season rushing record for Penn with 1,450 yards in 1998 and is fifth on the all-time list with 2,251 yards in what was essentially only two seasons of work.
"If we had Jim at running back for four years, he probably would hold every rushing record that this school has ever had," Bagnoli said.
En route to the Ivy League championship in 1998, the Quakers suffered their only defeat of the season at the hands of Brown. In the loss, Finn had a remarkable game, scoring six touchdowns -- an Ivy League record -- and amassing 259 yards on the ground, which is a second all-time high for a single game in Penn history.
"He had the game of games against Brown," Bagnoli said. "We lost in one of those all-time classic, 58-51, games... he was just a one-man wrecking crew."
At the postgame press conference, Finn made a declaration that Penn would not lose another game, and he held true to his word. The Quakers swept the final four games of the season to earn the Ivy League crown.
"It was like something clicked that day," Finn said. "After that loss I was like, 'There's no way we're going to lose another game.' I just had a gut feeling, and that's what happened."
A month before graduating from Penn in 1999, Finn was selected by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round of the NFL Draft -- the last selection in the draft -- 251 spots behind No. 2 overall pick Donovan McNabb.
The Bears cut Finn from the team, but he spent some time on the practice squad and was determined to make an NFL roster the following year.
In order to get ready for the Indianapolis Colts' official offseason program, Finn moved down to Florida and trained in the heat for three months before arriving at the Colts' training site.
"Guys were just coming back starting, and I had been in intense training for two or three months beforehand," Finn said. "I just kept plugging away and wasn't going to be released; that's basically the approach I took."
His hard work paid off -- Finn made the Indianapolis roster, and his dream materialized in that first game in Kansas City.
Finn had been a member of the Colts for the past three seasons, until signing a three-year deal with the Giants as a free agent in the offseason.
"It kind of got old in Indy because their style of offense didn't cater to a fullback," Finn said. "So I felt I needed to compete, and I needed to get on the field and contribute."
Finn couldn't be happier with his role as the Giants' starting fullback, primarily as a blocker who can also catch passes out of the backfield.
"This is all I want," Finn said. "This is a role I'll gladly accept. This is what I've worked for and I'm happy doing what I'm doing here."
Already this season, Finn's receiving yards have surpassed his previous career total while averaging 8.8 yards per reception on the year.
"He brings a great attitude, a great work ethic," Giants quarterback Kerry Collins said. "He's a talented guy, kind of a workhorse, and can do a lot of different things for us. He's adept at catching the ball out of the backfield, so he's a good player."
"I think he adds a very intellectual fullback who can make adjustments on the run, and he moves the pile," Giants' running back Delvin Joyce added. "He is a strong guy and gets a lot of movement on the linebackers, and I think it's a huge advantage for us to have him."
Finn's dream seems to have come full circle from a six-year-old playing football on the neighborhood fields of Fair Lawn, N.J., to an NFL veteran playing only a stone's throw away from his hometown on Sundays.
