Sharif finch4/30/2023 In turn, I tried to tell Sharif to model himself after him.” "His tenacity and ferociousness are what I tried to put into my game. Lawrence Taylor was there for the Giants," Tyson said. "Growing up in New York City, you look towards the superstars of the pro teams. It's also who he wanted Finch to pattern his game after. Because Tyson grew up in New York and played outside linebacker, he modeled his game after New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor. It was also a way for him to be a role model for his siblings. Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire Lawrence Taylor, Madden and Mom Sharif Finch, the youngest of 21 siblings, reached an NFL dream shared by many in his family. The rest of the family visited to check out one of Tyson's games, and they decided to move - choosing to stay in what they believed to be a better environment and buoyed by the fact they already had family living in the area. Tyson was a standout linebacker at August Martin High School in Queens, and he earned a scholarship to play at Virginia Union, a Division II college in Richmond. They grew even closer after the core six moved to Virginia when Finch was 8. There wasn't much structure, but they had each other. Through all of it, the core six remained together. There were even times they had to live in a car. Tyson described their house as a "rotating door," but it was always packed with family. Some of the other brothers and sisters would stay with them for short periods. "I didn't want Sharif to fall into that trap," Tyson said. Tyson wanted to help shield Finch from the negative influences in the neighborhood. "He saw how hard Gus worked to play college football and even professionally in the AFL." " definitely looked up to Gus," Sherrille said. Tyson, the oldest of six children their mother had, refers to his mother's children as the "core six," which includes Sharif as well as his sisters Sharice, Sherrille and Sharonne and his brother DeVone.įinch's father, Gregory, was in the picture - "He was there to be supportive and push my brother to stay focused," Sherrille said - but it was the oldest sibling, Tyson, who took it upon himself to treat the youngest sibling, Sharif, more like a son than a baby brother. At times, they lived in a cramped three-bedroom house with as many as 30 family members. We are one and the same, me and my brother." The 'core six'įinch and his siblings grew close growing up in Queens, New York. "We share a birthday, we shared a position. "This is a bond that could never be broken, man," Finch said. "I took that to heart and put everything into him like he was mine. "On my 13th birthday, my mother told me she wasn't giving me any gifts, she got me a brother," said Tyson, a former Arena Football League linebacker. It was brotherly love that put Finch on the path to getting a football scholarship at Temple and eventually making it to the NFL. “It was a beautiful thing." Family gatherings were always large affairs for Sharif Finch (center), shown here with his siblings and paternal grandmother, Johnsie Smotherson. "Just a lot of love and camaraderie,” said Gus Tyson, Finch’s oldest brother. It was a humongous, family-like atmosphere." "Pops would be playing the piano in the background. That's what we were always waiting for - it was the main dish on Thanksgiving," Finch said. "My mom would come out with her baked ziti. There was lots of laughing and plenty of food. His family played a Turkey Bowl football game in the backyard. The Tennessee Titans linebacker is the youngest of 21 siblings. Thanksgiving gatherings were some of the best times Sharif Finch remembers from his childhood.
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