Chris Finlen never expected to be where he is today.

He never expected to be a three-year captain or a four-year starter.

Finlen knew he was going to get some playing time later on in his college career. However, he didn’t think it would come in the middle of his freshman year.

“Coach Novak talks a lot about redshirting his freshmen, but a lot of us got thrown into that situation,” Finlen said. “We had to be played young, and I matured a lot quicker because of it.”

It was that situation that made Finlen into the quarterback he is today.

Finlen helped turn the Huskies from the laughing stock of the nation when NIU was on a 23-game losing streak, the longest in the nation at the time, into a Mid-American Conference championship contender.

The fifth-year senior is second in career passing yards with 5,295 yards and career completions with 408. The only other quarterback that has had a better career is College Football Hall of Famer George Bork.

“I know that it’s something that the guys I came in with take great pride in,” the senior quarterback said. “It was hard to show your head around campus. Now we have people on this

campus supporting us. It’s something that I am proud of.”

While he wishes he never had to be thrown into the situation back in his freshman year, Finlen knows he wouldn’t be the quarterback he is today if he hadn’t been. He wouldn’t trade anything in for the road he has gone down.

“He’s a great leader,” coach Joe Novak said. “A three-time captain. A four-year starter. He has all those characteristics there. He goes to the huddle and has a real presence in him. He brings all the intangibles with him.”

As his career is about to close, Finlen knows it is going to be hard not to be playing at NIU next season. Finlen said he has developed some good relationships since he came to NIU in 1997.

“I am going to miss it a lot. I have been blessed in being put in a great situation since I got here. This is a big part of my life.”

Novak knows it is going to be hard to replace Finlen next year.

He also knows when he looks at the offense next year and does not see Finlen in the huddle, it will be weird, but it’s all part of the game.

“It’s going to be different,” Novak said. “He’s been here since the beginning. He has seen the change, and that is what you like about a player. He has hung in there, and he has toughed it out.”