Tulane QB T.J. Finley arrested, released from jail after charges connected to stolen car

TJ Finley is at his fifth college in six seasons as of the end of last year with him transferring to Tulane. However, that career there is off on the wrong foot, per reporting on Thursday.

Per FOX 8 WVUE-TV in New Orleans, Finley was arrested on charges in connection to the robbery of a car. He has since been released from jail with no comment yet made by his representation.

According to court documents in connection to the arrest, Finley told police that he had recently purchased the car in Atlanta. However, authorities reportedly booked him for being in possession of an item that was stolen at a value of more than $25,000.

Tulane has now made a statement regarding this matter involving Finley to Garland Gillen at FOX 8. The school did not share anything further on the issue besides that, pending the ruling on his case, he is now suspended from the team. Jon Sumrall has also now had to address it with him unable to say too much besides what was shared in the program’s statement.

“We are aware of the situation involving TJ Finley,” the Green Wave shared. “He has been suspended from the football program pending the outcome of the case. Due to federal laws governing student privacy, we will not disclose any additional information regarding the student, including information related to the disciplinary proceedings.”

“Legally, I can’t. I, I’m not in a position to be able to dive into it,” Sumrall said. “You know, when things happen off the field, it’s unfortunate. And, I’ll let the statement say for what it is. Um, but, when guys make mistakes, then we have to have accountability.”

Finley was in the portal for a third consecutive offseason back in December with him committing to transfer to Tulane to be their possible replacement for Darian Mensah (Duke). He was, with that, the No. 729 overall transfer and the No. 57 QB per On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players.

That’s after previous stops he made at Western Kentucky, Texas State, Auburn, and LSU. In total over his half-decade in college with all those programs, Finley has completed 63% of his throws for 6,128 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. He was only a consistent starter at one of those stops, though, with the Bobcats in ’23 where Finley posted career-best stats with 67.4% completion for 3,439 yards, 24 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while also rushing for eight more scores.

More is to come regarding Finley’s future both on and off the field. Still, for now, Finley is away from the Green Wave at the halfway point of their spring practices.