Jalen "Teez" Tabor (born December 31, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Early years

Tabor attended Friendship Collegiate Academy in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Tabor was rated by

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as a five-star recruit. He originally committed to the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

to play college football, but he would later switch his commitment to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

College career

As a true freshman at Florida in

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, Tabor played in all 12 games and had five starts under head coach

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...

. He finished the season with 31 tackles an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

and two sacks. Before the 2015 season, Tabor and the Gators would have a new head coach,

Jim McElwain James Frank McElwain (born March 1, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Central Michigan University. He previously served as the head coach at Florida from 2015 to 2017, and Colorado State from 2012 to 2014, wh ...

, after the departure of Muschamp. As a sophomore in 2015, he started nine of the 13 games and was a first-team All- SEC selection after recording 39 tackles, four interceptions, and one sack. As a junior in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, Tabor earned his second career first-team All-SEC selection. He would forgo his senior season and enter the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

Professional career

Heading into the NFL Combine, the majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected Tabor to be a first round pick. Tabor received an invitation to the NFL Combine, but put up unimpressive numbers for multiple running drills. He attended Florida's Pro Day and opted to have another attempt at the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, and 10-yard dash, but ended up putting slower times in all three. Tabor attended private workouts that were held by the Arizona Cardinals,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, and Detroit Lions. His draft stock began to plummet and NFL Draft experts and analysts projected him to fall to the second or third round. Once considered a top five cornerback in the draft by some analysts, he was ranked as the eighth best cornerback in the draft by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' and was ranked the 12th best cornerback in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions selected Tabor in the second round (53rd overall) of the

. He was the ninth cornerback to be selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was reunited with Florida teammate Jarrad Davis, who the Lions selected 21st overall. Tabor was the fourth of eight Florida Gators to be selected in 2017. On May 12, 2017, the Lions signed Tabor to a four-year, $4.82 million contract that included $2.33 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.64 million. He competed with Nevin Lawson and D. J. Hayden for the starting cornerback position. Tabor was named the Lions' fourth cornerback to begin his rookie season, behind veterans

Darius Slay Darius Demetrius Slay Jr. (born January 1, 1991) is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the s ...

, Nevin Lawson, and D. J. Hayden. On October 1, 2017, Tabor made his professional regular season debut during the Lions' 14–7 win over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. On August 30, 2019, Tabor was released by the Lions.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 30, 2019, Tabor was signed to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

' practice squad. He re-signed with the 49ers on February 5, 2020. He was waived on July 6, 2020, with a

non-football injury Non-football injury and non-football illness (NFI) are roster designations used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who are unable to practice as a result of conditions unrelated to football, or injuries that did not occur during NFL g ...

designation.

Chicago Bears

On December 23, 2020, Tabor signed with the practice squad of the Chicago Bears. On January 11, 2021, Tabor signed a reserve/futures contract with the Bears. He switched to

after not having the requisite speed to play the cornerback position for the Lions. On August 31, 2021, Tabor was waived by the Bears and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 19, 2021. Tabor was placed on injured reserve on December 29, 2021. As mostly a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

, he played 34% of the team's snaps as a

special teamer In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and 28% of them on defense.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 17, 2022, Tabor signed with the Atlanta Falcons. He competed as a backup safety and cornerback - especially in the

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

- while also working on special teams. He was released on August 30 and re-signed to the practice squad.

Seattle Seahawks

On September 15, 2022, the Seattle Seahawks signed Tabor off the Falcons practice squad.

Personal life

Tabor was featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary ''Get Smart with Money''.

References

External links

*
Florida Gators bioAtlanta Falcons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabor, Teez 1995 births Living people American football cornerbacks Players of American football from Washington, D.C. Florida Gators football players Detroit Lions players San Francisco 49ers players Chicago Bears players Atlanta Falcons players Seattle Seahawks players