By Kshell
On Saturday Night at approximately 11 p.m. University of Washington star tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins was stopped for suspicion of DUI. He had a bloody nose and had to go to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington (where he has since been released I'm told). He had a female passenger with him at the time. I normally don't do breaking news as I'm not a news member with "inside" sources. However, on this case I was privileged to some information that I figured I'd share to the public.
First of all, Seferian-Jenkins the little I've had encounters with him has always treated me well. I've had good exchanges with him via Facebook and Twitter. He appears to be a good thoughtful kid so I'm not going to bury him until I know all the facts. I also hope for his sake and his passenger that their health is fine and nothing seriously has gone wrong. When the details come out I'll let the beat writers of the team put in their opinion on this.
Remember going into the 2012 season after signing a new deal Seattle Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch was arrested for a DUI. Some fans were freaking out thinking he was going to have a bad season due to that. Quite the contrary as Lynch enjoyed his best season as a pro. Lynch ran for a career high 1,590 yards on a career high 5.0 YPC average with 11 touchdowns. He earned his second straight pro bowl appearance and first career first team all-pro selection. He also scored the winning touchdown in the Seahawks first road playoff victory in 29 years when the Seahawks defeated the Washington Redskins 24-14. By the end of the season most fans had forgotten about Lynch's DUI and forgiven him as his play never slowed down.
For Seferian-Jenkins he is entering his junior season at Washington. He is coming off a terrific season where he set records as he caught 69 passes for 850 yards(12.3 YPC) and seven touchdowns. For his two year career he is the all-time leader for Husky tight ends with 110 receptions, 1,394 yards and 13 touchdowns. He will most likely leave for the NFL after his junior season as he'll be the Huskies best NFL prospect heading into the 2013 season.
Hopefully Seferian-Jenkins can learn from his mistake and not repeat it. In the future Seferian-Jenkins hopefully can remember to call a cab or a friend if he is out drinking. He has too much to risk as in 12 months he'll be a very rich man as some lucky NFL franchise will make him a first round pick. Seferian-Jenkins is a young kid as he won't turn 21 until September 29th, 2013.
At the end of the day Seferian-Jenkins made a mistake. Not everyone is perfect even if at times on the football field he appears to be perfect. Husky fans will rally behind Seferian-Jenkins while rival fans will troll him on twitter and facebook. More importantly is Seferian-Jenkins learns a lesson from this which is don't drink and drive. I'm a big fan of Seferian-Jenkins and I hope everything turns out okay for him and his passenger. I just wish Seferian-Jenkins had taken his own advice which he tweeted out at 9 p.m. "Young Uce @Aesj88; All friends have a fun and safe night." If only Seferian-Jenkins had taken his own advice March 9th, 2013 wouldn't have ended so poorly for him.
