A former National Football League player and UCLA graduate has been arrested on suspicion of DUI causing injury, a felony, following a crash Friday night in Thousand Oaks.
Michael Seidman, 39, one of the nation’s top tight ends when he came out of Westlake High School in 1999, was involved in a head-on collision around 9:35 p.m. Oct. 16 on Erbes Road at Hauser Circle.
Eyewitnesses told local crime blog Safety for Citizens that Seidman’s silver pickup truck veered into the path of an older man driving a four-door sedan.
The driver of the sedan, who has not been identified, is reportedly in critical condition at the hospital. Both Seidman and the man had to be extricated from their vehicles following the crash and taken for medical treatment.
According to jail records, Seidman was booked at 5:35 p.m. Sat. Oct. 17, presumably after he was released from the hospital. He’s being held on $100,000 bail, the jail’s website shows.
Following a successful career at UCLA in which he caught 59 passes and seven touchdowns, Seidman, who grew up in Westlake Village, was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played four seasons in Carolina, making one Super Bowl appearance, followed by a season with the Indianapolis Colts.
His career was cut short by knee injuries.
In 2018, Seidman was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. While at WHS, he was named a Parade All-American tight end, a first-team USA Today High School All-American and the No. 14 overall recruit in the nation. He received first team All-CIF and All-State honors. In 2004, he was one of the first members of the Westlake football hall of fame.
Since retiring from the NFL, Seidman has enjoyed a successful career in real estate. He currently works for Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate firm, in their West Los Angeles office, according to cushmanwakefield.com.
Seidman is due to appear before a judge at 1:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 20.