From Middletown to Clemson football to injury: Here’s what Justin Falcinelli is up to now
MIDDLETOWN, Md. — Justin Falcinelli got into football in third grade. All four years he attended Middletown High School (2010-2014), his team went to the Maryland State Championships, losing one then winning three. Justin completed two degrees at Clemson University – a bachelors in Management and a masters in Business Administration – while maintaining a college football career, going to three National Championships and winning two.
He chose Clemson because, “They talked about academics, tutoring and helping the athletes grow academically,” including a “Paw Journey Program” for developing careers after football. That turned out to be smart thinking.
In 2019, Justin had a chance at the NFL, and was planning for the “Pro Day” combine in March. Unfortunately, he tore a ligament in his ankle in the Notre Dame game in December, 2018, continued to play through the end of the season, and required surgery and rehab, which took him out of fully participating in Pro Day.
Justin said, “Pro Day is pretty scary. There is a coach from every NFL team in the country. I had a boot on; I said I was doing the bench press; I did 27 reps, pretty good. Checked the box. I wasn’t expecting to get any calls.”
Justin did get invited to the Bills minicamp. “One of my former coaches was working at the Bills and wanted to give me a shot. I was planning to go to just that.”
Then, he received a call from an agent that said the Raiders needed a center at their minicamp. He flew to Palo Alto the same day. “It was a crazy experience.” Justin’s flight was delayed; he arrived at 2 am, went to camp at 5:30 am.
“I was exhausted. That was the most active I had been since my injury. I had no practice, no agility, for months. It was intimidating. The second day, I was thinking I really don’t want to do this anymore – drills, coaches, practice, meetings. I never saw myself playing football long term; it was my plan B. I felt like I did well. I got compliments from the coaches. But Rick Leonard, my high school teammate, got bounced around the country, and I didn’t want to do that.”
So Justin called his agent and said he was done. Now, even though he doesn’t play for the NFL, he is still involved with football.
“I got involved in MHS coaching with Kevin Lynott. ”Kevin was a massive help, a huge advocate for me. At a tackling instruction event, I met Tyler White, the JV coach at the time; he was working for Cobec Consulting.” Tyler helped Justin win a position at Cobec in cost analysis and data visualization. So, football helped Justin get his first job.
Justin now lives in Baltimore, goes to the gym three or four times a week, and recently began a new position at Northrop Grumman as a principal data visualization analyst, a “great opportunity with a great company, a promotion and a raise.”
Most recently, Justin became involved with the College Football Players Association (cfbpa.org). “It is a growing thing. I am reaching out to teammates and people I know are still playing. A lot of what we went through is that you are not really represented in the decisions that are made about you. This is giving college football players a say. We are trying to organize and get a collective voice for college football players.”
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