ASJ on path to redemption
The rules are explicit and non-negotiable: No cheering in the press box. No matter how big the play, how incredible the moment, you simply cannot show a trace of emotion. No clapping, high-fives or first pumps, please.
So, now would be the perfect time to reveal that I hope Austin Seferian-Jenkins finds success Sunday against the Dolphins… and every fall Sunday after that.
It’s impossible not to root for the Jets tight end if hope and second chances matter to you. It’s impossible not to want someone changing his life for the better to find happiness.
Seferian-Jenkins will make his season debut in the Jets home opener after serving a league-imposed two-game suspension stemming from a DUI arrest last year that prompted the Buccaneers to cut him.
He has made a remarkable transformation, finding help from friends and strangers along the way to battle a drinking problem that threatened to derail much more than his football career.
“I can see a difference from just talking to him,” said Jets wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who was teammates with Seferian-Jenkins at the University of Washington. “I can just hear it in his voice. It’s definitely different. Sometimes guys go through some hardships to figure it out. He went through his. He’s still figuring it out. He’s figuring out who he is as a man and as a player. But he’s on the right road.”
It’s been a frightening road, a lonely road and a road that nearly took away everything.
It’s become a promising road, an encouraging road and a road that has helped him find a peace that he hopes will never leave him.
Seferian-Jenkins has been sober for 244 days and counting. God willing, he’ll celebrate his 25th birthday next Friday clean. His journey, so complicated and cluttered for too long, is only now really beginning.
He found a passion for football with the Jets, a new-found love to get excited by daily moments that escaped him as a younger man. He enjoys prac- tice. He actually wants to study and learn to better himself at his craft. He’s dissecting his game in the classroom and doing all the things that he once dreaded.
He’s fully aware how much of an impact he can make on an offense languishing near the NFL basement through the first two weeks of the season, but there’s no reason to make wild proclamations.
“I really appreciate the opportunity to be here because I know how easily it can be taken away from me,” said Seferian-Jenkins, who had 10 catches for 110 yards in seven games with the Jets last season. “I know how fragile life is. I know how a lot of things are in life. Anything can change in a split-second. But right now, I’m here. I’m working hard.”
“It’s really a blessing just to be standing here,” he added. “Just to have the relationships that I do with my family, my teammates, my coaches… It’s a real blessing and an honor on my part. I truly cherish that.”
Although Seferian-Jenkins wasn’t allowed to practice during his suspension, he attended team and positional group meetings and worked out at the team facility. He watched the pair of Jets’ losses at home.
The 6-5 tight end will be a welcomed addition in the pass and run games for offensive coordinator John Morton, who has already dealt with a litany of injuries to his tight ends.
“We’re fired up to have him back,” quarterback Josh McCown said.
Seferian-Jenkins, who radically altered his lifestyle and eating habits en route to losing 33 pounds this offseason, could add a valuable dimension down the middle of the field.
“He definitely hit a reset,” Kearse said. “His mindset is definitely different. He’s focused. He’s determined. He wants to go out there and prove to everyone what he can do.”
His path to redemption began in earnest many months ago when he vowed to change his life. he change isn’t complete. Maybe it never will be, but his story already has inspired and helped others with similar demons.
“If someone can learn from what I’ve done, I’d love that,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “If I can ever help anyone that’s been in my situation or a similar situation, I’d love to be there for them, because I know how it is. I know how lonely it is. I know how tough it is. I know how easy it is not to talk about it, how easy it is to ignore it and not to face it head on…. I just want to be a friend to somebody that needs some help.”
He’s worth cheering for no matter where you are.
T