Howard
Finney III:
father, husband, Marine, coach-in his 91 years of living,
Howard Finney III is many things, to many people. To the
young players of the Montclair Cobras Junior Athletic
Program, he is a mentor that will change their lives forever,
and for the better. He was born in Utica, New York, but his
legend is born in Montclair, New Jersey. A stockbroker and
former Marine, he decides to establish a youth football
program in 1969, having played the sport himself as a young
man attending Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard
University. Though his own experiences take place at
illustrious, elite institutions, he refuses to create an
exclusionary program. Instead, he coaches youth from every
background, every creed, and every race. Over the next 50
years, he shapes the hearts and minds of these athletes,
inevitably shaping their futures, too, such as Super Bowl
winners David Tyree and Sean Jones. Other professional
athletes that learned from Finney include Tommy DeVito, Josh Allen, Dale Berra-son of
Yankees great Yogi Berra-Larry Doby Jr and Quintus
McDonald. While his record of 400 wins is widely known, his
greatest victories happened off the field.
Producers Jeremy Pholwattana and Neil Grabowsky, along with Executive Producers David Tyree and Tommy DeVito, embark on a journey to create a monumental three part documentary series telling the true story of Howard Finney III, the man who helped heal a community and help raise these young athletes in to successful young men. Watch as we tell the story of why Coach Finney started this program and why it's still going just as strong today 53 years later.