Like many cornerbacks — if not most who have played against him — Cortland Finnegan has a Steve Smith story.
But the Dolphins cornerback is also no stranger to shall-we-say aggressive play on the field, so their match-ups figure to be heated.
But Finnegan said he was stunned at his first meeting with the Ravens wide receiver, when he was with the Titans and Smith still with the Panthers.
“He comes over to me, and tells me ‘None of that crazy stuff, Finnegan,’” he said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “I’d never played him before, so I was like, ‘Yes sir. Absolutely. Nothing crazy.’ Back then, they called me crazy.”
“Midway through the game, [the Panthers] ran a toss-sweep, and I had him pinned. I was going to push the running back out of bounds. Next thing I know, he picks me up and he throws me into the water cooler. The very next play, he runs a slant, they run a boot, and I run as fast as I could and went helmet-to-helmet with him. I remember his helmet bouncing on the ground and he bounced up so fast, telling me he was going to kill me. I’ve enjoyed Steve Smith.”
The Dolphins would enjoy it if Finnegan gets a chance to renew pleasantries with him this week.
Finnegan has missed the last three weeks with an ankle injury, and practiced on a limited basis yesterday, calling himself 50-50 for this week’s game.
