Every good story needs a villain. But the story isn’t quite as compelling when the person who claims to be a villain really isn’t one.
Buccaneers tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is trying to hang that mantle on himself. For some reason.
“I’m a villain,” Seferian-Jenkins told PewterReport.com. “But hey, villains have fans, too. They might have more fans than the heroes, and I’m OK with that. If someone has to be the villain, I’ll be the villain. I have no problem with it. The movies still say, ‘Starring . . . the villain.’”
Why does he want to be a villain?
“Someone has to be the villain,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “I’m the most villainized player right now. People don’t like me. They say I’m out of shape. Bro, you don’t even know. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m going to have a great year.”
If Seferian-Jenkins truly is a villain (and calling himself a villain doesn’t really make him one), he became vilified after being booted from practice in the offseason by coach Dirk Koetter. Sliding to No. 2 on the depth chart behind Harvard product Cameron Brate doesn’t help the perception/reality that Seferian-Jenkins has failed to get the most out of his natural abilities, which opens the door for criticism.
The knock on Seferian-Jenkins is that he doesn’t care enough, doesn’t try enough, doesn’t work hard enough. If telling himself he’s the villain provides the motivation needed to get Seferian-Jenkins to do what he needs to do to maximize his talents, then he should buy a Darth Vader mask and chain smoke a few cigars so he’ll be able to do that deep, gravelly James Earl Jones voice.
