Luke Falk had a history with the Jets before joining them.
A walk-on quarterback at Washington State University in 2014, he went on to become the Pac-10's all-time passing yards [14,486] and touchdowns [119] leader. Then chosen by Tennessee in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, he would spend part of that season with Miami, where Adam Gase was in his third season as the head coach of the Dolphins.
The following year, Gase would be in his first season as the head coach of the Jets, and brought Falk to New York to join Sam Darnold, Davis Webb and Trevor Siemian in the QB room after the Dolphins put him on waivers in May.
"I was just hoping that I'd get claimed and that's what happened. I was happy because I knew I was wanted there by the head coach. So I felt like it was going to be a great situation for me," Falk said.
"I had played against Sam in college and had heard nothing but great things about him being a good dude. I played against Davis Webb in college, and same thing. And then I heard Trevor was a great guy, as well. So it just seemed like it was going to be a good quarterback room.
"And then my old (college) teammate, Frankie Luvu, was on the team. He was just trying to make the roster, as well. So yeah, that seemed like a good fit. There were some good guys on the team. I was just grateful to keep the dream going."
In his second year playing in Gase's offense, Falk performed well during the preseason schedule, completing 29 of 36 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and earned a spot on the practice squad. That, however, wasn't for long.
After New York's Week 1 loss to Buffalo, Darnold, the starting quarterback, was diagnosed with mono and was out. Falk was then promoted to the active roster to back up Siemian in the Jets' next game, which was against Cleveland and being broadcasted nationally on Monday Night Football.
Falk's primetime debut occurred sooner than expected when Siemian suffered an ankle injury with 7:58 left in the second quarter. Seeing his NFL regular-season action, he finished the 23-3 loss by going 20 of 25 for 198 yards.
"One of the biggest things (I remember about the game is that) I was sad about Trevor getting injured. I really liked Trevor, good dude, good friend," Falk said. "So, one, you're concerned for him. And then the other one was, I remember hearing chants from the Jets fans of 'Luuuuke.' I felt very supported and felt very thrilled. I'm playing on primetime in New York with the Jets!
"We didn't get it done, but I felt like I had some confidence coming out of that game. I felt like I was seeing it well, doing certain things. Had a couple of drives that moved. Obviously, we didn't get in the end zone, but it's a memory that I'll remember forever. I mean, how many people can say they played on Monday Night Football?"
Falk would start in two of the next three games: Week 3 at New England, a 30-14 loss; and Week 5 at Philadelphia, a 31-6 loss.
Granted, it didn't turn out as he would have liked, but even being able to play in the NFL is something that few have done. What are among Falk's fondest memories from his time as a Jet?
"Even though we got our butts kicked against the Patriots, Tom Brady was the guy that I looked up to in my professional football career," he said. "And to be able to have my first career start in Foxborough against the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots playing against Tom Brady, and meeting him after the game, that will forever be what I look back on my NFL career as a highlight moment for me.
"I thought it was pretty cool. When I was with the Dolphins, we had a couple games where we played against them, and people asked if I was going to come up and introduce myself. And I said, 'I don't want to do that until I'm the one playing against him.' So to be able to have that moment was pretty surreal."
After one season as the quarterbacks coach at Wingate University and one season as the offensive coordinator at Northern Iowa, Falk chose to leave the game, but not coaching.
Earlier this year, he took a look at his past to decide on his next step in the future and became a full-time mind strength coach.
"In high school, I lacked a lot of confidence. I worked really hard physically, and nothing seemed to help me kind of overcome that or be able to perform at a high level consistently," Falk said. "My parents were very supportive and found a sports psychologist for me. He showed me that if I started training my mind like I trained my body, consistently and deliberately, that over time I would be able to develop mind strength.
"It didn't happen overnight, but probably the biggest eye-opening thing of how powerful it was, I quit working on that stuff going into my senior year (in college) and the NFL, and I found out very quickly, without mind strength, you can't access everything you worked so hard for. I'm convinced had I continued with my daily discipline, I would have been still playing to this day.
"But it just wasn't my calling. My calling is helping out and coaching and being able to really provide this mind strength movement that's going on. So that's how I got into it. I know the power of it from being somebody who lacked it, to then somebody who utilized it greatly, and then somebody who allowed the trappings of success to not feel like they need it."
A keynote speaker, Falk makes presentations in front of college and high school athletes, coaches, teams, as well as businesses.
"I think a lot of college athletes love listening to what I'm talking about because they work so hard physically," Falk said. "But same thing, what are they doing for their mind? They're not doing much. And quite frankly, it's not because they're lazy or anything, it's just because they don't know how. They don't have to train their mind.
"I've been the man in the arena. I've been in their shoes, just like where they're at now. I've lived these principles and been able to utilize them at a very high level. And then I also can give them the red flag if you don't utilize them, this is what happens.
"I want them to be successful, but the biggest thing that I'm after, the thing that fills me up most, is seeing an internal shift happen when I work with a client or when I speak with somebody. You can see the internal peace almost happen when they start utilizing these principles and start having more inner confidence. They start feeling better about themselves.
"Because to me, I think mind strength is about the ability to master your inner world so you can handle anything that the external world throws at you."
Falk makes his home in Logan, Utah, with his wife, Meg, and their two-year-old daughter, Charlotte. Aiming to help athletes and individuals achieve success by focusing on their inner strength, he authored The Mind Strength Playbook in October.
"I'm doing what I'm doing today and have just been able to see the power. And even not in the non-athletic world," Falk said. "On LinkedIn, I had a number of posts go viral because people could see it happening in the business world. On Twitter, there'd be posts going for 1.3 million views and 500,000 views and 400,000 views, just because the messages, I think, really resonate with anybody in any arena. They're just great life skills."
