NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
When Florida football opens the season against Miami at The Swamp on Aug. 31 (3:30 p.m., ABC), the game will hold added incentive for Florida Gators redshirt junior defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp.
The 6-foot-3, 272-pound Sapp will get to face the man he calls his “football father,” former Miami Dolphins NFL Hall of Fame edge rusher and Miami Hurricanes defensive ends coach Jason Taylor.
Sapp played under Taylor at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Fort Lauderdale, where Taylor was defensive coordinator. The 49-year-old Taylor started his coaching career at St. Thomas Aquinas in 2017 after amassing 139.5 sacks in a 14-year NFL career. He joined the Miami coaching staff as a defensive analyst in 2022 before being promoted to defense ends coach last season.
“We are very close,” Sapp said. “Me and JT, we go way back. That’s probably one of the people that has brought me into playing football for real, like playing it the right way. He actually taught me that. But I told him when I see him, we’re going to fight.”
Sapp said Taylor, who was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, was hard on him throughout his high school career.
“He didn’t let me get by on anything,” Sapp said. “I felt like I was always wrong. It felt like I could do nothing right. It was days that it challenged me and made me grow up. I understood what hard coaching was and what it took to actually be great if I wanted to separate myself from other people.”
Tyreak Sapp battling for playing time on Florida football defensive line
After recording 24 tackles and 2 sacks, Sapp is competing for playing time among edge rushers. It’s a position group that Florida football coach Billy Napier has termed “the most competitive” in fall camp.
Sapp is among the most popular players on UF’s roster because of his energy and personality. During a GatorMade trip to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pro-football-hall-famer-current-200009828.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-08-08 20:00:09
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
