AJ Finley explains what it means for this Ole Miss team to not have a quitter's mentality

In the month of December, many college football student-athletes decide to forgo their bowl games, either declaring for the NFL Draft or entering the transfer portal to take their talents to another program. Ole Miss has had players decide to go down both paths following their regular season finale, but despite this will still be participating in their bowl game. Rebels’ safety AJ Finley spoke about this subject, applauding his teammates for their mentality.

“I feel like it means a lot honestly, you can see the goals of this team, the mentality of this team is not a quitter mentality,” Finley said. “Like if you go back and watch games, even when we were losing, we never laid down and quit. So I feel like that’s really the mentality of the team, just finish out what we started.”

Players like senior defensive end Tavius Robinson have declared for the NFL Draft, but will play in one last game with their teammates when Ole Miss takes on Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl. Even backup quarterback Luke Altmyer will still be with the team for their bowl game despite entering the transfer portal after a conversation with friend and starting quarterback Jaxson Dart.

“I mean it’s the world we live in today, the transfer portal has really changed a lot of things. You see guys enter the transfer portal, but I mean honestly the guys that are in the portal, they honestly want to play in the game. Like I said, everybody wants to finish out the season and finish what we started,” Finley said.

An NFL scout or a college coach may look at a player choosing to finish out their season with their team despite them leaving as commendable, but certain players may find it unusual within a team in regards to chemistry. Finley made it clear that this was not the case for Ole Miss, respecting the decisions of all his teammates and eager to play one last time with them.

“I don’t even think it’s weird honestly, it’s a decision that they felt best that they needed to do, so I still got love for everybody that’s in the transfer portal honestly. So it’s just like if they feel that’s what they need to do to better their career I’m all in for them,” Finley said.

Finley in the Rebels will square off with the Red Raiders Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. in a Texas Bowl matchup that will air on ESPN.