Rio, and to be able to be myself and not have to hide anything is special. Its strange that it has to be something special, but at the same time its

Jalen Teez Tabor isnt afraid to show his confidence. Some people mistake it for arrogance, but its the bravado needed to do his job: shut people down.Floridas 6-foot, 201-pound powder keg of emotion and talent has All-American tenacity because he can. He uses his witty, mostly NSFW words on the field to find that paralyzing edge, while fueling his own physical yet somewhat beautiful style of play that earned him first-team All-SEC honors as a sophomore last season.Id say he would certainly be in the starting five if we were going to have a basketball team of trash-talkers, said South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, who signed Tabor in his final recruiting class at Florida in 2014.Off the field, his words can pierce just as much. Just ask the Tennessee Vols.Though he has played in only one game against Tennessee, Floridas 11 straight wins over Tennessee since the early 1990s has left Tabor with no choice but to troll Rocky Top.On Twitter, he compared the Cleveland Cavaliers struggles in the first two games of this years NBA Finals against Golden State to Tennessees fourth-quarter collapse to the Gators in last seasons 28-27 thriller in the Swamp. In August, he went on national television with ESPNs Paul Finebaum to proclaim that Florida would extend its winning streak over the Vols to 12 this year. He mocked Tennessee being picked by ESPNs Football Power Index as the favorites to win the SEC East, called out Peyton Manning for never beating Florida and this past Saturday he simply tweeted Yep its a L during halftime of Tennessees 28-19 win over Ohio.Saturdays matchup between No. 14 Tennessee (3-0) and No. 19 Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC), will bring plenty of SEC East Division talk, and a ton of Tabor talk.Its as simple as this: Tennessee plays Florida every year -- either in Gainesville or in Knoxville -- and at Florida, we win, Tabor told ESPN.com in August. At the end of the day, the University of Florida is going to beat the University of Tennessee. Thats the culture, thats history. Thats whats going to happen.Some things just continue to take place, and one of those things is the University of Florida beats the University of Tennessee in football.The braggadocious junior, who considers Steve Spurrier one of his idols, thrives on mental warfare. With a Deion Sanders-like attitude, Tabor isnt afraid to put himself on an island for criticism.I feel like Im the best player in the country, he said. They give the Jim Thorpe Award to the best DB, and I feel like if I do what I have to do, I dont see anybody else who can [win the award]. It shouldnt be an issue.Merri Tabor attributes her sons fierce confidence to his early days of flag football in the blue-collar town of Bowie, Maryland, when a 4-year-old Tabor constantly yapped at the children across from him. When he wasnt calling out players, he was calling out the other teams plays before they even got set.Before I knew my ABCs, I knew the offense was going to run a screen pass on third-and-9, Tabor said.Tabor taught himself the game by watching the NFL Network. He dissected plays in his mind and eventually predicted plays of NFL teams as soon as the offenses lined up. Madden video games served as electronic practices before he trotted out for the real thing.All hes done is football for the past 18 years, Merri Tabor said.Teez Tabor got his start as a talkative, Little League firecracker, but he cut his teeth during his four years at Friendship Collegiate Academy in southeast Washington, D.C. After spending most of his young academic life in private school, Tabors mom enrolled him in football powerhouse Our Lady of Good Counsel High School.However, when Tabor was in eighth grade, his mom met Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, who was coaching Friendships football team. Abdul-Rahim, now the defensive backs coach at Maryland, founded Friendships football team in 2004 and Merri Tabor wanted her son to work with and learn from him.Merri Tabor pulled her son out and moved into the district that housed Friendship, a charter school barely a decade old in an impoverished part of D.C., to subject him to a more humble lifestyle she hoped would present him with critical life lessons.I pulled him from what would have been a good situation to moving him somewhere where I thought he would fail, Merri Tabor said.To make it at Friendship, Tabor had to survive both the streets and the Beach.Friendship, located in D.C.s Ward 7, exposed Tabor to the toxic environment of a destitute, crime-stricken area. Tabor lost two of his close friends to shootings.He was jumped and robbed twice in high school, prompting his mother to have older students take him to the subway to get to school. She would pick him up after school and made sure he got to and from football practice without issues.So Friendship Beach, the schools dirt practice field, became his warped sanctuary.There was no locker room, so the players changed in nearby shipping containers. There were never enough helmets. There was no weight room, so they worked out in the schools halls. There was no home field, so every game was on the road.Skin and hair caked with dirt that sometimes remained after showers. Cleats cracked broken glass and food wrappers. Rocks scraped knees and there was no give underneath. Sometimes administrators combed the field for needles before practice. A dead body was found there. Practices ran as the sound of gunshots popped within close proximity.The Beach was a getaway for players hoping football would be a lottery ticket out of the horrors of the inner city.We wanted to practice at the Beach. We wanted to get dirty, Tabor said. We felt like that gave us the edge.Friendship humbled Tabor, who became nationally recognized with nearly 30 FBS offers. He didnt allow a pass to be completed on him his junior year, and the two-time Washington Post All-Met honoree broke up 17 passes with five interceptions as a senior on his way to becoming D.C.s Mr. Football and ESPNs No. 4-rated cornerback prospect.The slender five-star corner grabbed current South Carolina defensive coordinator Travaris Robinsons attention. Robinson, who was Floridas defensive backs coach at the time, remembers seeing a tenacious, long corner with exceptional ball skills, tremendous instincts and the willingness to tackle of a linebacker.Tabor dazzled live and his ability jumped off tape, but what really drew Robinson to him was his knowledge of the game.That tells me that in his spare time, he isnt playing video games, hes watching football, Robinson said. Thats more than half the battle, and thats not common anymore.Robinson also admired the semi-truck-sized chip on Tabors shoulder that he carried to Florida. With All-American Vernon Hargreaves III still around and leading the secondary, Tabor mostly listened, but he tried to outwork his teammates and take extra reps.Having Hargreaves there was great from a learning standpoint, but it was Tabors time with classmate Quincy Wilson that he said pushed his first-year progress. The two met during The Opening, a football camp at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, the summer before their senior years. They marveled at each other, as they immediately compared their size and skill. Wilson wanted to show the Maryland guy what Florida speed was like, and Tabor wanted to show the Florida kid what D.C. toughness was all about.That was the first time I saw another corner with my build, Wilson said of Tabor.They reunited at the Under Armour All-America Game practices, where again their competitiveness fueled their play. Of course, that bled over into Gainesville. Tabor said the two didnt talk much at first, subbing in and out of games without exchanging words. It wasnt bad blood, just two confident corners competing for a starting spot.But that competition slowly turned into teamwork. The more they worked together, the better they got, but it wasnt until the latter part of the season that the two really started to bond. They shared advice and created an on-field chemistry that made it tough for coaches to keep them on the sideline.The fact that he was balling and I was balling, it made us better, Wilson said. It was like, the coach had to play us.Tabor said he first really came around to Wilsons partnership when Hargreaves tired in Floridas bowl game against ECU, allowing the two to take the field together. The two, sitting at opposite sides of the bench, leaned back, looked at each other and nodded in unison.It was like everything paused, Tabor said. We were like, Lets go. Were in the game now. Standing about five yards off Kentucky receiver Dorian Baker, his back to Floridas sideline, Tabor kept his eyes on Kentucky quarterback Drew Barker. As soon as the ball was snapped, Tabor bounced twice to his left, then bolted toward Baker as Barker released, corralling the pass before tumbling to the ground.Deja vu.If Im going to call it out when Im 4 years old that theyre going to call a screen play, how am I not going to be able to call it out now? Its just a natural instinct, Tabor said. If you know its coming, why not go pick the ball off?Tabor has shown fantastic flashes like that since his freshman year when he started five games, earning All-SEC freshman honors with 31 tackles, including four for loss and two sacks. He broke up eight passes and had a masterful one-handed interception against Vanderbilt. Last year, Tabor started nine games -- sometimes outplaying Thorpe Award finalist Hargreaves -- with an SEC-high 18 passes defended with four interceptions (two went for touchdowns).He currently ranks 14th on Mel Kipers Big Board, and probably will follow Hargreaves as a first-round pick if he leaves after the season.He is one of a kind, Hargreaves said of Tabor last season. Hes natural and can do some things that no one else can do on the field. You cant teach it and you cant coach it.But Tabor doesnt think he has totally arrived, not like Hargreaves -- whom he looks up to like a brother. Tabor was snubbed from All-American consideration last year and didnt make the Thorpe Award watch list this summer. He blames himself. He blames the dropped interceptions and bouts with laziness in games.Tabor thrives on chaos -- a blessing and a curse. His loud play can make for an even louder mouth that has gotten him in trouble, like when he talked so much trash to tight end?Cyontai Lewis?during two-a-days this fall that the two brawled with helmets and were suspended?for the season opener.On Twitter, hes as aggressive as he is on the field, on just about any topic. In a span of six months, he weighed in on the controversial Alton Sterling shooting, called out Lewis after their on-field scuffle and criticized Floridas athletic association after he was suspended for last years Tennessee game, reportedly for refusing to take a drug test.Tabor knows he can be controversial but refuses to censor his honesty. Its remarkably refreshing, even if you disagree with him.Why not speak when somethings wrong? Tabor said. If somethings done the right way, I always compliment it, but when somethings wrong, thats when you have to say something.Tabor does have a softer side. He consumes himself with community service work, including summer football camps with Abdul-Rahim back in Maryland. He wants to open a charter school in D.C., and he has taken the name Teez because his younger cousin gave it to him when he was in high school.Merri Tabor worries her son is trying to do too much. But her brash child has become a face of Floridas football team. He conducted his own media day on Periscope when he didnt go to SEC media days, and head coach Jim McElwain, who is a fan of Tabors self-confidence and aggressive attitude, sent him on a personal publicity tour through New York.Tabor respects the spotlight and loves the pressure. More important, he loves what hes doing.Im just a young kid from [Prince Georges] County Maryland who had a dream and is still chasing a dream, he said.Cheap NFL Hoodies .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.cheapnfljerseysstore.us/ . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Discount NFL Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Wholesale NFL Gear . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Isadora Cerullo has become a celebrity around Rio, more for what happened on the sidelines of the Olympic rugby stadium than for her performances on the pitch.The stadium was largely empty after the womens rugby sevens tournament -- the first in Olympic history -- when venue manager Marjorie Enya walked onto the grass to ask Cerullo, her girl-friend, an important question: Will you marry me?As volunteers and others surrounded them and held red heart-shaped balloons, Cerullo said yes. The moment was caught on TV cameras and broadcast around the world. So for all the tackling and try-scoring, it could just be the proposal that remains among the defining moments of the tournament.People were still waving and calling out well done to Cerullo two days later outside the Deodoro Stadium on Wednesday as she stood for an interview with The Associated Press.She takes great pride in the courage it took for Enya to pop the question in such a public forum.There is actually a statistic that more athletes are coming out after what happened, and even Rio has the highest number of `out athletes ever, Cerullo said. So maybe well hear about more athletes being more comfortable, just being themselves and proud of who they are. I hope so.Cerullo started playing rugby while she was studying biology and human rights at Columbia University in New York.Her coach there, knowing Cerullos parents were from Brazil, recommended Cerullo try out for the Brazilian team, which was fielding teams in the Olympic mens and womens rugby tournaments as the host nation. She has been living in Brazil since then.And it was rugby that brought the pair together -- Enya was the manager of Brazils womens rugby sevens team when Cerullo joined the program in 2014 to prepare for the Olympics. They started dating not long afteer.ddddddddddddEnya left her job at the rugby federation to take a position with the Rio 2016 organizing committee -- ensuring theyre both involved in the Olympics.The Brazilian teams were never expected to win a medal, but performed above expectations and placed a credible ninth in the 12-team womens tournament won by Australia.Cerullo believes her legacy as an Olympian, thanks to Enya as well, is significantly more important than some statistics for tackles and tries.The unexpected proposal was unbelievably special, she said, and fits with the spirit and values of the Olympics and rugby.Respect is a huge overlapping value of the two, Cerullo said. To be able to feel free, comfortable and secure in Rio, and to be able to be myself and not have to hide anything is special. Its strange that it has to be something special, but at the same time its special that were getting so much positive support.It was in stark contrast to the previous Olympics, the Winter Games in Sochi, where gay athletes and couples come under scrutiny because of Russian laws.Knowing that a lot of those athletes, seeing myself represented in those athletes, made me just really uncomfortable and upset in a lot of ways, Cerullo said. I was studying human rights at Columbia at the time, so all that wrapped into those events made it really tough.Having a complete 180, a complete turnaround here in Rio, knowing that everybody is embracing this idea of respect and diversity and a lot of support for female athletes.Gay marriage is legal in Brazil, says Cerullo, as well as in the United States. And thats a good thing, she added, because it means the pair can have marriage ceremonies in America and Brazil. ' ' '