Son of Bills legend John Fina gets his chance at rookie camp

Case in point, there was a rep Friday afternoon during a drill where the linemen engage a man in front of them, then peel off to block a second man at the next level of the defense. Bruno handled his technique and responsibility perfectly and Gund, who was working with his group, told him it was a “great” rep.

Bruno was born in 2002, the year his father played his last NFL season. After 10 years with the Bills, John signed with the Cardinals and after missing half the year, he called it quits, ending his career having started 131 of 155 regular-season games, plus eight of 12 playoff games including Super Bowl XXVIII against the Cowboys, the last of Buffalo’s four straight appearances. He was a backup as rookie when the Bills lost Super Bowl XXVII to those same Cowboys.

“He actually gave me a little thing I could plug into my computer,” Bruno said, referring to a flash drive that contained highlights of John’s time with the Bills back in the VHS tape era. “So I’ve seen some of his games, but I was too young to remember anything. Speaks for itself. Yeah, he did all right.”

John’s parents were both born in Rochester, and he was also born here in 1969. While they moved when he was young, much of their extended family remained in Rochester and to this day there are still relatives here which is one reason why he really enjoyed playing for Buffalo with so much support close by.

Bruno Fina (center) poses with his family, including his father and former Bills' offensive lineman John Fina, when he officially committed to play for UCLA back in 2019.

“He said he loved the city, he always loved the city,” Bruno said when asked what John has told him about Buffalo. “Yeah, he talked about Buffalo all the time, loved the time that he lived here, loved the friends that he made here, and the family he’s got close by. He said it’s a great city to be a young person in so just soak it up and work hard, but enjoy the city a little bit, too.”

Bruno grew up in Tucson, Arizona and he began his college career at UCLA where he spent four years and graduated with a degree in business economics. Because he had a redshirt season plus an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, he transferred to Duke and played two seasons there while also earning a masters degree in management studies and being named Academic All-ACC and CSC Academic All-District both years.

“My last year at UCLA was the first year that I started and I feel like I really could have had a much better year,” he said. “Then they wanted to move me to guard because they had some guys coming in. I felt like I still had more meat on the bone to play tackle, so I wanted to keep on playing tackle and Duke was a place that I could do that. Plus, my little brother (Roman) was getting recruited there, too, so I could head over there and play with him. And then really these last two years have just been a testament to my coaches and my teammates, and getting a little bit better every day.”

In 2025 he was the offensive recipient of Duke’s Cutcliffe Family Awards which are presented annually to the most improved players in the program. He started all 14 games at left tackle and helped Duke to its first outright ACC title since 1962 as the offense set school records for touchdowns (63) and points (484).

The 6-foot-5, 306-pounder was not invited to the NFL scouting combine so he had to rely on his tape and Duke’s pro day to garner interest, and after the draft, the Bills called him up and gave him a chance to walk in his fathers’ footsteps.

“It was long odds to get here, right?” said Bruno, who is being looked at as a tackle and guard. “So just do the same thing I’ve been doing just one step at a time. I know it sounds generic, but that’s all it is - just do every little thing you can do right and then if you don’t make it, you look back and say I did everything I could.”

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bruno Fina, son of Bills great John Fina, earns rookie camp shot