A little over a year ago, almost to the day, Seahawks safety AJ Finley tore his ACL at the Seahawks' annual Football Fest at Lumen Field. And Saturday, he was healthy enough to practice in this year's edition of the event where he picked off quarterback Sam Darnold in something of a "full circle moment" for the fourth-year safety.
"It really didn't hit me until I I got to the sideline and all the boys were congratulating me," Finley said. "It's definitely a full-circle moment. Just sticking to the process and taking [it] day to day, and, honestly, it's been a hell of a ride. I got a lot of good people in my circle, my wife, my family. Honestly, being here, I stayed here with the team last year, and it honestly helped me a lot."
As an acknowledgment of what this day meant for Finley, head coach Mike Maconald had him break down the huddle at the end of practice.
"It was incredible," Macdonald said. "I'm incredibly happy for him. He's worked incredibly hard, he's been a great teammate the whole process. At this time last year, he was really battling for a great role, and he's put himself right back in the thick of things. He broke the team down at the end, which I thought was really cool."
And whether it be superstition or simply not wanting to bring up a negative moment for Finley, his teammates and Macdonald said they didn't say anything to Finley before the practice, but Finley was on their mind the whole day.
"It was one of those things like, how do you handle it as a coach?" Macdonald said. "Do you bring it up, do you not? We were thinking about it—I know AD (Aden Durde) talked to him this morning—we were all kind of thinking about him going into this. That was really cool."
Finley said, "There was a lot of people that were saying they didn't want to say anything to me before practice. With everybody, obviously, knowing. A lot of people that came up to me, they're like, 'man, a year later, you come back and you get a pick.' That's so special. Like, that's nothing but God, that... honestly, it is, so I really appreciate it and I thank God for being in this situation."
Finley, an undrafted player out of Mississippi was claimed by Seattle during November of the 2024 season and played in four games, mostly on special teams and since then has been with the team, with Seattle re-signing this offseason.
"It was special," Finley said on being re-signed. "Obviously a lot of guys, especially in my position, like you don't come back a lot from ACLs like that. So honestly, it meant a lot. Knowing that I put in the work and they saw the work that I put in. So I feel like that's what helped me get back in this situation."
Finley decided to stay in Seattle and work through the rehab process while still staying connected to the team, even attending practices during the week, when he could. He said being around the team helped him through the tough recovery process, and he learned that he can get through anything now because of the injury.
"I feel like if I put my mind in anything, man, I feel like I can go do it," he said. "So, honestly, like, just trusting myself, coming in, putting the work in, like, obviously, it's a long process, and it's tough on the brain, but if you put your mind to it, I feel like, you can do anything. I feel like I did that very well."
It was also the words of his strength and conditioning coach Wilson Love from Ole Miss that helped him mentally get over the injury quickly.
"So what, now what" is what Love told Finley and to Finley those words just meant, "No matter what happens to you, you gotta fight back. You gotta adjust."
Finley said his body feels 100 percent healthy and now it's just trying to get back to 100 percent mentally.
"No, it's not trusting my body, it's honestly trusting my eyes," Finley said. "Like, I feel good about my body, but it's just, like, seeing certain things, reading, reacting and stuff. I was like, I still got a tad bit. I'm almost there, but I'll still got a tad bit to do."
