GLENDALE — Arizona Cardinals tight end Bernhard Seikovits had reporters shocked when he began his press conference Thursday speaking in his native language.
On top of getting a good laugh from everyone in the room, the joke showed just how comfortable the Austrian is in Year 2 after joining the franchise last season through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.
“I think I got pretty far in just one year alone,” Seikovits said, in English. “I feel way more confident, I know the calls, I know how people move. I certainly know the speed of the game and I just feel overall more confident and I think that shows on the field, too.”
Last season was a thrown-into-the-fire moment for Seikovits, as the tight end was tasked with getting up to speed on the ins and outs of the NFL. He spent all of his first regular season on the practice squad and failed to record a catch over the course of the preseason.
That all changed last Friday, in Week 1 of his second preseason.
In Arizona’s 36-23 win over Cincinnati, Seikovits was finally able to mark that off his NFL checklist with a 13-yard reception.
It was a long time coming for the tight end, whose early NFL memories were made by staying up as late as he was allowed to watch games back in Austria. He even had his neighbor record the matchups on DVD so he could tune in the next day before YouTube made things a little easier.
“I think I’m on the right track,” Seikovits said. “Wherever that leads, that’s alright. At the end of the day, you can only do your best every day and what comes out of it is what comes out of it.”
In a very stacked tight ends room, Seikovits has his work cut out for him if he hopes to earn some regular-season snaps in 2022.
Unquestioned starter Zach Ertz is back on a new deal, Maxx Williams is working back to full speed, rookie Trey McBride looks as advertised and Stephen Anderson brings versatility to the group.
But regardless of the playing time or snap counts, the former Vienna Viking knows he has a whole country rooting for him to succeed.
“I really feel like people got my back, back home. Obviously, it’s a big deal back home,” Seikovits said. “All of them know me, know how I go about things and they got my back.
“They enjoy the ride with me and it gives me security, too. I’m not doing this alone, I got people on my back.”
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