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Colorado safety Ben Finneseth (28) leaves the field after a win against Central Florida in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders warms up before an NCAA college football spring game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders directs safety Ben Finneseth during the first half of the team’s spring NCAA college football game Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado special teams player Ben Finneseth (28) chirps at Baylor linebacker Rara Dillworth (36) in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Sports Reporter
Colorado safety Ben Finneseth (28) leaves the field after a win against Central Florida in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
BOULDER — On Saturday, Ben Finneseth let his teammates see tears roll down his face for the first time.
It was more than worth it for the walk-on safety from Durango.
One of the few remaining holdovers from the pre-Deion Sanders — the “OBs” or Original Buffaloes as they call themselves — Finneseth is a walk-on no more.
“All I gotta say is ‘Ben’ to anybody inside this program,” Coach Prime said after Colorado’s spring game on Saturday. “‘Tell me about Ben.’ They’re gonna say he works hard, he don’t take days off, smart as a whip, don’t blow coverages, don’t miss assignments, always in a good mood. I’ve never seen Ben frown. I’ve never seen Ben angry. I’ve never seen Ben hate on anybody. He’s a starter on special teams. He’s our guy.
“Rewarding him for what he’s brought to us and being consistent — he’s an OB, he’s one of the Original Buffs — he didn’t quit. He didn’t walk away, he didn’t shy away from competition. He didn’t ask me for no scholarship. Ben is who we are.”
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders warms up before an NCAA college football spring game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
It’s the culmination of a five-year journey for Finneseth.
It all started in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“All the camps I had signed up for got canceled, so I didn’t know what I was gonna do,” Finneseth explained. “I thought I was just gonna have to end up going D-II.”
That summer, he took a visit to Colorado School of Mines. Afterward, he asked his dad, Robert, if they could drive up to Boulder so he could just see Folsom Field for the first time. During a time when the world stood still, he peered through the gate in the southwest corner, saw the empty stadium and one thought entered his mind.
“‘Dad I’m coming here,’” Finneseth recalls saying.
There was only one problem. He was about as far away from every major college football program as you can get in Durango. He helped lead his team to a state championship in 2020, but was still a 0-star recruit with no Division-I scholarship offers when he decided to walk-on at CU in 2021. Before he arrived in Boulder, he watched the movie “Greater” about the life of Brandon Burlsworth, the former walk-on turned All-American offensive lineman at Arkansas who was killed in a car crash a week after being drafted into the NFL and now has the Burlsworth Award named after him, which is given annually to the top walk-on in college football.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders directs safety Ben Finneseth during the first half of the team’s spring NCAA college football game Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“Man, I teared up watching that movie and I said, ‘That’s gonna be me one day,’” Finneseth said. “That’s been my goal ever since I got on campus. When I came here, a lot of people told me was I dumb and that I was just gonna be the special teams guy that never got to see the field. But I saw something different for myself.”
The first two years were rough. He didn’t see any game action as a freshman and played in just three games as a sophomore when the Buffs went 1-11. Then Coach Prime arrived and cleaned house. Finneseth was one of the few to stick it out.
Last year, he saw one of his closest friends, a fellow walk-on and Colorado native Charlie Offerdahl, earn a scholarship in the spring game.
After being one of CU’s core special teams players in 2024, playing in all 13 games and recording 12 tackles. This spring, he’s been running with the first team defense at safety and is set for his biggest role yet in his senior season. Now he gets to do it on scholarship.
Colorado special teams player Ben Finneseth (28) chirps at Baylor linebacker Rara Dillworth (36) in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The tears came as soon as he hugged Sanders in the locker room before Saturday’s spring game.
“I told Coach (Prime) as soon as I put my head in his shoulders, I said, ‘Thank you for believing in me,’” Finneseth said. “He’s believed in me since day one. I can’t thank the coaching staff, my teammates, I can’t thank everyone enough for just giving me the opportunity and the ability to work and to get better and just be here. It’s been an absolute blessing.”
Sports Reporter
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