Cortland Finnegan is from a small school &mdash Samford University &mdash and he’s proud of it.
But the Titans cornerback is willing to spread his love for all the underdogs of college football, and his teammates who represent those schools. Finnegan recently ordered T-shirts from nearly a dozen small schools, from Washburn and Fort Valley State to Montana State and Eastern Washington. “All I wear is T-shirts,” Finnegan said. “So I’m going to wear them out in the public and represent, and give the other guys some love.” This week his locker looked like a sporting goods store. He had shirts from South Dakota (linebacker Josh Stamer), Central Arkansas (defensive end Jacob Ford), Winston-Salem State (defensive end William Hayes), Montana (defensive back Tuff Harris), Washburn (cornerback Cary Williams), Montana State (long snapper Ken Amato), Fort Valley State (cornerback Nick Harper), Eastern Washington (tackle Michael Roos) and Dartmouth (tight end Casey Cramer). On Friday, he received an order from Tiffin, for receiver Nate Washington, and was still waiting for a package from Maine, where tight end Matthew Mulligan played. “It’s pretty cool I think, representing all the small school guys on the team. And as it turns out there’s quite a few of us,” Stamer said. “I’ve seen mine &mdash University of South Dakota! But he’s not letting us wear them.”
Finnegan hasn’t abandoned Samford but said there’s no reason the little guys shouldn’t get some attention in a locker room dominated by players from SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 schools.