It's not common for an NFL team to offer a prospective player an option during the annual draft. But that's what the Jets did in 1994 for Glenn Foley, a quarterback who passed for 10,039 yards and a school-record 72 touchdowns at Boston College.
"It was Pete Carroll's staff, and they actually called and asked if they should draft me, or if I wanted to go as a free agent, let me go out and test the market. I said, 'No, draft me. I want to be a Jet!' And they did. They drafted me the seventh round," Foley said.
"I was excited. I was projected to go way higher, to go in the second round, but I knew I wouldn't. I was small. I was 6-foot-1, 210 (pounds). And I ran a 5.1, 5-flat in the 40(-yard dash). (ESPN's) Mel Kiper had me in the second round, which is the kiss of death. So, yeah, I knew I was probably going to be one of those guys that dropped. Just because of my size."
That said, Foley stood tall when he got to the team's facility and joined veteran quarterbacks Boomer Esiason, Jeff Blake, and Browning Nagle. He may have been the only rookie in the quartet, but felt the support of his coaches, which helped his confidence that season and beyond.
"They wanted me to go win the job. They wanted me to compete like I was going to be the starter," Foley said. "Boomer was there, so he was the starting quarterback, and Jeff was unproven. So I was in a battle with Jeff Blake. They told me to go out and fight him every day. And that's what we did, we battled. I out-battled him and beat him out for the spot, and was on the team.
"And then from that point forward, every year you have to beat somebody out. I had to beat out John Sacca one year. John Paci came one year and had a real good camp. And then I had to beat out Neil O'Donnell. I had to beat out Frank Reich. I had to beat out Vinny Testaverde. I beat all those guys out at some point."
After backing up Esiason and Jack Trudeau as a rookie, and Esiason and Bubby Brister the following season under new Head Coach Rich Kotite, Foley made his first start for the 1-12 Jets in Week 14 of the 1996 season against the 9-4 New England Patriots, that year's eventual AFC Champion.
"Richie tells me they decided to start me against New England, against (Bill) Belichick and (Bill) Parcells. Needless to say, we didn't win the game," Foley laughed. "But we actually moved the ball a little on offense. We did a few positive things in my first game. I threw a touchdown to Keyshawn Johnson (and finished 22 of 45 for 227 yards in the 34-10 loss)."
A day before the 1996 season-finale, which the Jets lost to Miami to finish 1-15, Kotite decided to step down and announced he wasn't fired and wasn't quitting. Either way, he was replaced by Parcells, who would become the Head Coach/General Manager.
His reputation understandably preceded him. No one knew that better than Foley, who didn't want to follow Kotite out the door, and did what he felt he had to do to assure that.
"I was on my honeymoon with my first wife, and I woke up and saw the news. I said, 'We've got to go.' She's like, 'What do you mean we have to go? We've been here for two days. We're supposed to be here for two weeks.' I said, 'They just hired Bill Parcells. If I'm not in the office tomorrow, at some time during the day, I will get cut,'" Foley said.
"I played for Tom Coughlin (at Boston College), one of his guys, so I knew the only way to be with these guys is to never miss a day, be the first guy in the room, be the first guy at the building. Never miss a meeting, never step out of line. Just follow the rules and always be accountable.
"So I cut my honeymoon short. I was in San Diego, and I red-eyed back to New York, and then drove to (the Jets facility to) meet Bill and the staff. I went in and said 'Hey, Bill, how you doing? I just flew in from California to make sure you don't cut me. I'm actually on my honeymoon right now.' He goes, 'Foley, I like you already.'
"And then I left because they didn't need me for anything that day. But I just wanted to show my face and that I had to fly in from California to do it."
The Jets' 1998 season, Foley's fifth with a team, ironically opened in California with him voted by his teammates to be one of the captains, and starting at quarterback against the 49ers. He passed for a career-high 415 yards and three touchdowns in New York's 36-30 loss in overtime.
Suffering a torn rib cartilage the following game against Baltimore, however, forced him to the sideline. Injuries, of course, are an unfortunate part of the game, and Foley had his fair share of them.
Did he did he ever wonder why me?
"No, I was always wondering why me, in terms of, why am I so fortunate to be in this position? I was grateful to be in the NFL," Foley said. "I worked to get there, don't get me wrong, mostly because I just didn't have the statistics. How many six-foot quarterbacks play in the NFL that don't run? That run 5-flat or above?
"I was in the NFL as a quarterback, but I realized very quickly that that game is not the college football game. You're not playing against the same kind of athletes.
"I got my shoulder ripped out in a Patriots game. I mean, it wasn't just a little bit, it was ripped out of the socket, sticking out under my gear. I couldn't move my head because my shoulder was blocking my neck. And I made it through that.
"I'm a fighter. I fought back, made it all the way back. Dr. Nicholas did a great job with me, rehabbing the shoulder. I was actually throwing better balls after the surgery. I came back stronger, better than ever."
Foley, who had the choice of whether he wanted to be a Jet before actually becoming a Jet, beat the odds while being beat up. Shoulder. Knee. Ribs. Neck. But even with the scars to remind him what he went through, he wouldn't change a thing.
"The fact that I was elected by my team as captain in 1998 (is what makes me most proud of my career). And that I was able to stay with the organization. It doesn't sound like a long time, but for five years, I was a New York Jet. And that makes me proud," Foley said.
"They eventually traded me (to Seattle). No big deal, no hard feelings, that's the business. But I was a New York Jet under Leon Hess, under Bill Parcells, played under Belichick, Pete Carroll drafted me.
"I loved being a Jet. Still love being a Jet. I still love going back to the games, I take my kids back. I'm a Jet for life. They've always treated me with 100 percent class. They're a class organization, they really are."
The father of three sons from a previous marriage, Foley is now making his home in Maryland with his wife, Theresa, and their two children. He's retired, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a great job.
"I am a full-time Mr. Mom," Foley laughed. "So I help out with my children. I watch their games. I don't know anything about volleyball, but I'm having a blast watching my daughter, a sophomore, playing JV volleyball. And my six-year-old little guy, he thinks he's (Cristiano) Ronaldo, and now he's (Patrick) Mahomes, too."
