He is also cousins with Rex Hadnot, a former Houston guard and sixth-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2004.

Finley chose to play at Texas and received a redshirt during his freshman year in 2005.

He is also the half brother of former Texas A&M running back Jorvorskie Lane. According to a November 2007 report, the two still continue to have a relationship with their father. They also played with each other growing up, and also were on the same AAU basketball team during their teen years.

Finley was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He battled Tory Humphrey in training camp to be the Packers' No. 2 tight end. Finley eventually won the battle with incumbent veteran, Donald Lee for the starting Tight End position.

After posting two 100-yard games in the first three games of 2010, Finley suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Washington Redskins. He was placed on injured reserve by the Packers on October 18.

Finley started the 2011 season off strong, catching three touchdowns in a Week 3 divisional match up against the Chicago Bears. Despite key drops late in the season, Finley still finished 3rd amongst tight ends in receiving touchdowns and 12th in terms of yards. After the 2011 season, Finley became a free agent. On February 22, 2012, the Green Bay Packers re-signed Finley to a 2-year $14 million contract. Finley was set to make a little over $5 million in 2012, and around $8 million in 2013. In week 7 of the 2013 season against the Browns, Finley suffered a bruised spinal cord after making a reception and colliding helmet to helmet with Cleveland Browns' safety Tashaun Gipson. He was immediately paralyzed and had minimal feeling in his legs and was taken to the IC Unit of Green Bay Hospital. Finley began regaining the ability to move his extremities the following day and was later diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion after the Green Bay Packers had examinations from specialists.

After his spinal cord injury sustained in 2013, Finley became a free agent.

Finley initially received interest from the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, but no contract resulted. In October 2014, Finley filed a claim on his $10 million insurance policy. Despite working out five hours a day in Minneapolis and Wisconsin in hopes of an NFL comeback, Finley conceded that offers from the Steelers were not enough. "Pittsburgh have showed me a couple deals, but we all know the money ain't what it's supposed to be", Finley said in July 2014. "If I quit the game right now, I can take tax-free money, and that's a difficult thing that I'm going through with myself..."

On October 19, 2015, Finley announced his retirement from playing football, thanking the Packers' organization.