Finneseth ready to lead Buffs’ bounce back season
- Jake Chau
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
Under Saturday night lights, you’ll find many personalities. Some are natural leaders and can guide a team to success; some put on the jersey to prove something; some are born to play the game and have all the talent in the world; some are the “glue guy.”
Ben Finneseth is a little bit of all of them.
It may be attributed to his unconventional route to college football. He earned a spot on CU’s roster as a walk-on his freshman year before redshirting and earning an extra year of eligibility from an injury. Most of his snaps came on the special teams unit before earning his first collegiate start as a safety last year. Now, in his sixth year, Finneseth has rallied from the ropes.
“I haven't taken the easy route and I'm glad that I haven't,” Finneseth said. “It's been the most rewarding process in the world and I wouldn't change it for anything.”
Along his route were multiple injuries and setbacks, including a knee surgery in February, which forced him to stay off the field. Regardless, he stayed working wherever he could.
“I was super focused on watching film and increasing my emotional control,” Finneseth said. “When things aren't going right or when things are going right, staying levelheaded and not letting the outside noise get to me.”
There was plenty of noise surrounding the Buffaloes last year, going from nine wins to nine losses, causing a major roster turnover. Colorado had 36 players leave the program last year while big names like Omarion Miller and Jordan Seaton transferred out. Despite having every reason to leave because of the product on the field, Finneseth decided to stay.
“Transferring really didn't sit right with me,” he said.
He was just one of four starters who stuck with the program. He cited his relationship with head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders as one of the big reasons why he’s staying in Boulder.
“He's believed in me since day one,” Finneseth said. “I'm just extremely grateful to him for every opportunity that he's given me. He's brought out the best in me and he's pushed me to become the best version of myself. I felt like I owed it to him to stay.”
Sanders attracted 43 new additions to the roster, brought in two new coordinators and beat his bladder cancer all in the past calendar year. Both Sanders and Finneseth are ready to turn a new page, and it’s easy to see why this will be a different Colorado Buffaloes team.
“[Sanders is] pissed off,” he said. “He's a winner, he's a competitor and he's not gonna put up with the crap that we did last year.”
As a part of turning a new page, Finneseth admits that his road has “taken a little longer than [he] hoped.” Now, he’s begun to embrace the bumps and says “everything happens for a reason.”
Like anyone, Finneseth has found himself on the ropes many times in his life. Over the offseason, he literally was.
A recruiter for WWE found his YouTube videos and asked if he’d be interested in going to Orlando, Florida for an audition. Finneseth said yes.
The candidates spent five days doing various activities, from conditioning and workouts to on-camera auditions and even a bit that included having to give a sales pitch in under a minute. It pushed Finneseth in a way that he wasn’t expecting.
“It was tough,” he said. “They tried to get every single one of us to quit.”
Ultimately, he wasn’t taken, but being able to roll with the punches and refuse to quit is what he’s taking to the gridiron.
“I think getting out of my comfort zone [was the biggest takeaway],” Finneseth said. “I was going into an environment where I have no idea what to expect and knowing that it's going to be difficult and I'm going to have to persevere through some challenges.”
One challenge he has for himself this season is to win the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding college football player who started as a walk-on.
“I was a nominee for it last year, but I don't care to just be a nominee,” Finneseth said. “I want to win it.”
Now in his final year of eligibility, the defensive back has earned himself a “D” on his shoulder as one of Coach Prime’s “dawgs,” and as one of just a handful of players who stayed as a Buff, he’s become a leader not only in the locker room, but in his own life.
“I get emotional when I think back on the journey, because it’s been everything, but enjoyable,” he said. “There were a lot of times I wanted to give it up, hang the cleats up and just go be a regular person. But that doesn't teach anything in life.”
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