Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

His real name is Jalen, but almost everyone calls the newest Detroit Lions cornerback by his nickname "Teez" Tabor.

"Formal people" still call me Jalen, Tabor said at the NFL combine in March. "But as far as peers and people who really know me, (they call me Teez)."

Tabor, who the Lions took with the 53rd overall pick in Round 2 of the draft on Friday, said he got his nickname in middle school, and it stuck even after he tried to get rid of it.

"OK, seventh grade, we came up with this group called the EZ Boys and, eighth grade, it got kind of lame and old," Tabor said. "And my little brother, he kept saying like, he kept calling it to me when I didn’t want to be called it no more and after a while it just kind of stuck."

Tabor intercepted eight passes in three seasons at Florida and was considered one of the top cornerbacks in college football.

His draft stock fell ran he ran 40-yard dashes in the 4.6- and 4.7-second range at the combine and pro day, and he also had a host of off-field issues to account for with teams.

Tabor was suspended one game last year for a practice fight with a teammate, and as a freshman in 2014 he was cited for a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. At the combine, he also admitted to failing a drug test in college.

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Tabor said then that he didn't think his 40 time would determine his draft status.

"I think it’s a part of the process," he said. "I wouldn’t say it’s going to make or break me. Scouts know what I can do, the teams know what I can do. They got the film, they just want a number, that’s all."

He also said he wanted to tell teams that he was a changed person off the field.

"You got to go through growing pains in life," Tabor said. "I’m not saying I’m glad I made those mistakes, but they definitely made me the man I am today and I learned valuable life lessons from those mistakes so I wouldn’t have it any other way."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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