Pokes Football: Best of Wyoming – No. 23
LARAMIE -- It's officially "series season."
This summer, with the help of some longtime Wyoming football followers, we will count down the Top 25 homegrown products in program history.
As always, what these guys did in professional football doesn't matter. This is all about production in Laramie. A couple of the guys on this final list may not have been born here, but they grew up in Wyoming and graduated from an in-state high school.
Once we put a bow on these selections, we'll move on to other states like Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, etc. You get the picture:
No. 23 - Jacque Finn
Safety, 2000-03, Casper, Wyo.
Résumé in Laramie
When Jacque Finn graduated in 2003, his eight career interceptions tied him for the seventh most in school history. Fellow Natrona County High School alum Logan Wilson (10 interceptions) knocked him down a rung. So did Andrew Wingard (10), Tashaun Gipson (9), Julius Stinson (9) and Marcus Epps (9). Pretty good company, huh? Four of those guys are still currently in the NFL. To make Finn's feat even more impressive is the fact Wyoming won just nine games during his four-year stint in the Pokes' secondary. In other words, he put up impressive numbers in that department despite a lack of team success on the field. Finn, who entered college undersized at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, does own one program record. His 100-yard pick-six on the road at BYU in 2002 is still the standard today. He finished that season with three interceptions. UW won just two games that fall and fell that day in Provo, 35-31. Finn was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West that year. A former All-State football and basketball player for the Mustangs, Finn was named to the Casper Star-Tribune's Super 25 Team. He was also named the 4A "Back of the Year." He played quarterback, cornerback, safety and wide receiver at NCHS. Finn was one of four local products in Dana Dimel's '99 recruiting class, joining Casey Adams (Laramie), Casey Bramlet (Wheatland) and Ryan McGuffey (Riverton). Those four played three seasons under Vic Koenning and one for Joe Glenn. Dimel left for the University of Houston before the 2000 campaign.
About Casper
The second-largest city in Wyoming -- population wise -- Casper is home to nearly 60,000 residents, as of the last census. The "Oil City" is located near the center of the state in Natrona County. Some notable people from Casper are: Tom Browning (MLB), Dick Cheney (former vice president), Mike Devereaux (MLB) and Logan Wilson (NFL).
Pokes Football: Best of Wyoming series
(Cody Tucker and Jared Newland both work for Townsquare Media, which owns 7220sports.com. Kevin McKinney has been a color commentator of Cowboy football for five decades. Ryan Thorburn now works for the University of Wyoming in a sports information role after spending decades in the newspaper industry, most recently at the Casper Star-Tribune. Sally Ann Shurmur, the daughter of former UW football coach Fritz Shurmur, is also a veteran of the newspaper industry, working as a journalist, columnist at the CST for 43 years. She currently writes for Cowboy State Daily.)
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
More From 7220 Sports
