Washington’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins suspended indefinitely following DUI arrest

washingtongamedayr | March 13, 2013 at 2:56 pm | 1 Comment

Washington Huskies tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (88) stiff arms Utah Utes defensive back Reggie Topps (28) during the 2nd half at CenturyLink Field. Washington defeated Utah 34-15. (Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)

Washington Huskies tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins was supposed to be one of the premiere players at his position in the nation in 2013. However, he may no longer be playing at all next year after the team chose to suspend Seferian-Jenkins indefinitely.

On Saturday night, Seferian-Jenkins was involved in a one-car accident, suffered minor injuries, and was subsequently arrested after it was concluded that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol.

Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian enters the season with fairly substantial expectations for improved play lingering over his program. However, the coach has no choice but to keep his student-athlete off the field until the legal process has played itself out, fully.

“We will make the decisions necessary based on our team rules and our school’s policies that are fair to him and fair to us, and we will move forward and we will support him,” Sarkisian said via the Seattle Times.

Sarkisian later said that Seferian-Jenkins is “a good kid”, and that he will be missed during the several weeks — at least — it is going to take for the investigation to draw its appropriate conclusions.

Of course, the tight end could face far more charges at the end of the day. At that point, Sarkisian and quarterback Keith Price will be looking to get the ball into the hands of juniors Michael Hartvigson and Evan Hudson, along with sophomore Josh Perkins.

The 6-foot-6, 266-pound Seferian-Jenkins is considered a possible preseason All-American and one of the favorites to win the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end at the end of the year. He caught 69 passes for 852 yards and seven touchdowns in 2012.

We’d like to go with an “adding insult to injuries” joke, but it just doesn’t quite feel appropriate.