Austin Edward Seferian-Jenkins (born September 29, 1992) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

. He also played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

Early life

Seferian-Jenkins attended Gig Harbor High School in Gig Harbor, Washington. He played

for the Gig Harbor High School Tides. He had 126 receptions during his career and played in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Regarded as a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Seferian-Jenkins was ranked as the second-ranked

prospect in his class, behind Nick O'Leary and ahead of Jace Amaro. He chose his home-state school, The

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, over offers from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Miami (FL), Notre Dame,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

because Washington was the only big school to offer him the opportunity to play both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and football.

College career

As a true freshman in the 2011 season, Seferian-Jenkins started 10 of 13 games and had 41 receptions for 538 yards and six

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. In addition to football, he played basketball as a freshman. In his sophomore season, he recorded 69 receptions for 852 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished third in the Mackey Award voting. Upon completing his sophomore season, he had already set Washington records with 110 receptions, 1,390 receiving yards, and 13 touchdowns for the tight end position. On August 12, 2013, Seferian-Jenkins suffered a broken pinkie during practice. Head coach Steve Sarkisian announced the next day that Seferian-Jenkins will have to undergo surgery to repair the broken pinkie. Following Washington's 31–16 victory in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, he announced he would leave school early and enter the 2014 NFL draft. He finished his last year with Washington with 36 receptions for 450 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Seferian-Jenkins was a projected a second-round selection by ''

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

'' in the 2014 NFL draft.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2014 season

Seferian-Jenkins was selected by the

in the second round with the 38th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. In his rookie season, Sefarian-Jenkins played in nine games making 21 catches for 221 yards and two touchdowns. On October 26, he caught his first career touchdown, which was a seven-yard pass from

Mike Glennon Michael Joseph Glennon (born December 12, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack football, NC State Wolfpack ...

, against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. He caught his second and last touchdown of the season, a one-yard pass from

Josh McCown Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foo ...

, against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. His season was cut short by an injury, landing him on the team's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

list.

2015 season

In the 2015 season, with rookie quarterback and first overall pick Jameis Winston, Seferian-Jenkins looked to expand on his rookie season. He had a career day in a season opening loss to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. He had five receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns, which were a five-yard reception in the second quarter and a 41-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Both of Seferian-Jenkins's touchdowns were the first touchdown passes of Winston's NFL career. Seferian-Jenkins's remainder of his 2015 season would not have the success he had in the season opener. He only scored two more touchdowns on the season, which were a nine-yard reception from Winston against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

and a 43-yard reception from Winston against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He played in seven games with 338 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

2016 season

Seferian-Jenkins played in the season opener against the Falcons at the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a Stadium#Types, domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown Atlanta, downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of th ...

. He had one reception for 30 yards and a touchdown, which would be his only one of the 2016 season. He played one more game with the Buccaneers on September 18, which was against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

at the University of Phoenix Stadium. He had two receptions for 14 yards in the 40–7 loss. On September 23, 2016, Seferian-Jenkins was arrested on a DUI charge and was released by the Buccaneers later that day.

New York Jets

2016 season

On September 26, 2016, Seferian-Jenkins was claimed off waivers by the

. Seferian-Jenkins recorded 10 total receptions for 110 yards in seven games with the Jets.

2017 season

On March 15, 2017, Seferian-Jenkins was suspended the first two weeks of the 2017 season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. During Week 6 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, Seferian-Jenkins was thought to have fumbled inches from the endzone, resulting in a touchback. The call was controversial, since he retained possession going to the ground and only momentarily appeared to shift the ball as he crossed the goal line, but ultimately the error loomed large, as the Jets lost the game 17–24. He played in 13 games, of which he started ten, in the 2017 season. He finished with 50 receptions for 357 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 15, 2018, Seferian-Jenkins signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 9, 2018, after aggravating a core muscle injury. He played in five games in the 2018 season. He recorded 11 receptions for 90 receiving yards and one touchdown. On February 18, 2019, the Jaguars declined the option on Seferian-Jenkins' contract, making him a free agent at the start of the new league year.

New England Patriots

On April 10, 2019, Seferian-Jenkins signed a one-year contract with the

. He was released on June 4, 2019, citing personal issues.

NFL statistics

Personal life

On March 9, 2013, Seferian-Jenkins was cited for driving under the influence in the University District of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In July 2013, he pleaded guilty to DUI and served a day in jail. The football team suspended Seferian-Jenkins for one game, the Huskies' 2013 season opener against Boise State. In addition, Seferian-Jenkins was cited for DUI on the morning of Friday, September 23, 2016. He was released by the

on the same day of the incident. In May 2017, Seferian-Jenkins opened up regarding his struggles with alcohol, and indicated that he had sought help by attending rehab on an outpatient basis. Seferian-Jenkins was arrested for DUI for a third time on March 9, 2020. On January 31, 2022, Seferian-Jenkins was arrested for fourth-degree assault, felony harassment and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence.

References

External links

Washington Huskies football bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seferian-Jenkins, Austin 1992 births Living people American football tight ends American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Armenian descent Sportspeople of Armenian descent Basketball players from Washington (state) Jacksonville Jaguars players New England Patriots players New York Jets players People from Fox Island, Washington Players of American football from Pierce County, Washington Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Washington Huskies football players Washington Huskies men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Forwards (basketball)

Early life

College career

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2014 season

2015 season

2016 season

New York Jets

2016 season

2017 season

Jacksonville Jaguars

New England Patriots

NFL statistics

Personal life

See also

References

External links