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Payton Titus - Sports Reporter
Payton Titus

Sports Reporter

When your parents find inspiration for your name on the back of Gary “The Glove” Payton’s Seattle SuperSonics jersey, you have no choice but to pursue a career in sports. It feels fitting that in my 20th year (same as the number that graced Payton’s green and yellow uniform) I end up here for my first summer internship on the sports desk. I was raised by The Independent Florida Alligator, where I covered Gators softball, Gators football and served on the editorial board. If I’m not working, you’ll likely find me blasting Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” and serenading my cat or tending to my plants.

  1. Skate or die: Thrasher culture and how it could change future Olympics
    Aug. 23• Outdoors
    Cory Juneau of the United States competes in the men's park skateboarding final at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 5. The sport made its debut at the Games, moving a bit more the mainstream. But the sport's individualism and independence remain.
  2. How Florida’s name, image, likeness law could impact HBCU athletes
    Aug. 11• Sports
    Florida A&M defensive back Eric Smith (8) has two NIL sponsorships with Black-owned businesses.
  3. Largo’s Anastasija Zolotic: dark horse turned shining gold medalist
    Aug. 10• Sports
    Anastasija Zolotic, 18, of Largo, competing in the women’s 57kg weight division, celebrates one of her victories last month during the Olympic Games in Tokyo en route to capturing a gold medal.
  5. Mountain biking in Florida? Alafia River State Park offers easy to expert trails
    Aug. 9• Outdoors
    Wesley Chapel's Miguel Granados, 24, performs a trick he calls a “no footer and seat grab,” during which he takes both feet off the pedals and grabs his seat with one hand, while on the trails at Alafia River State Park.
  6. Bucs honor local charities on Community Impact Day
    Aug. 6• Bucs
    Children from the local charity Wheelchairs 4 Kids hold up signs with players' names and numbers printed on them as they watch the Bucs practice Friday at AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa.
  7. Gold medalist Bobby Finke reflects on ‘emotional’ first Olympics
    Aug. 4• Gators
    Bobby Finke reacts on the podium after receiving his gold medal for the men's 800-meter freestyle in Tokyo. He added gold in the 1,500 freestyle before heading back home to Gainesville and Clearwater.
  8. Diego Castillo returns to the Trop in a new uniform for Seattle series
    Aug. 2• Rays
    New Mariner Diego Castillo is already back at Tropicana Field just days after the Rays traded him.
  9. USF players capitalize on NIL law with special teams camp
    Aug. 1• USF Bulls
    Spencer Shrader (back row, third from left), Andrew Beardall (back row, fifth from left), Andrew Stokes (front row, second from left) and Kenny Scribner (front row, fourth from left) pose with the high school athletes who attended their special teams camp Saturday at Coach Al Houchens Memorial Stadium in Lithia.
  10. New Rays reliever JT Chargois excited to be part of ‘the real deal’
    Jul. 31• Rays
    Recently acquired JT Chargois made an impressive debut for the Rays Friday, working a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
  11. El veloz Trayvon Bromell, ejemplo para nuevas generaciones
    Jul. 29• CENTRO
    Trayvon Bromell, fotografiado en los Campeonatos del Mundo en pista cubierta de 2016 en Portland, Oregon.
  12. How an Oklahoma, Texas move to SEC could impact other Gators sports
    Jul. 27• Gators
    SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaks to reporters during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days Monday in Hoover, Ala.
  13. How Trayvon Bromell’s Olympic success is inspiring his childhood neighborhood
    Jul. 26• Sports
    Trayvon Bromell, pictured at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon,
  14. All-female Rays-Orioles broadcast crew makes history, looks optimistically to future
    Jul. 21• Rays
    Alanna Rizzo does a sound check before the Rays' game against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday at Tropicana Field. The game was the first in MLB history to feature an all-female broadcast crew.
  15. Rays top draft pick Carson Williams ready to go after signing for $2.35 million
    Jul. 21• Rays
    Rays top draft pick Carson Williams was excited to be at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, and to be signed.
  16. Tampa’s Erriyon Knighton is Tokyo bound. So what do his classmates think?
    Jul. 20• HomeTeam
    Erriyon Knighton, center, finishes third in the men's 200-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last month in Eugene, Ore. Noah Lyles, right, celebrates after winning ahead of Kenny Bednarek, left, and Knighton.
  17. Alanna Rizzo on Rays-Orioles all-female broadcast crew: ‘It’s not anything new for us’
    Jul. 19• Rays
    Alanna Rizzo, left, delivers a report before a 2018 game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies in Denver as then-Dodgers left fielder Matt Kemp looks on. Rizzo on Tuesday night will be part of Major League Baseball’s first all-female broadcasting crew.
  18. Tampa Bay to join national wheelchair football league
    Jul. 14• Sports
    Athletes pushed through a 20-minute aerobic spin around a wide series of cones during tryouts last weekend for the expansion USA Wheelchair Football League team in Tampa.
  19. Meet the more than 60 Florida athletes that will represent Team USA in summer Olympics
    Jul. 14• Sports
    Gibbs High grad Trayvon Bromell is heading to the Tokyo Games after winning the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
  20. Spotlight finds Clearwater swimmer Bobby Finke as Tokyo Olympics approach
    Jul. 13• Gators
    Bobby Finke gets ready to compete in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials. He ended up winning the event to qualify for Tokyo.
  21. Another day in Tampa Bay, another boat parade celebrating a Stanley Cup
    Jul. 12• Lightning
    Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Alex Killorn drives a jet ski while holding the Stanley Cup as teammate Nikita Kucherov gestures to the crowd while celebrating the Lightning’s Stanley Cup victory with a boat parade Monday in Tampa.
  22. How a Tampa family beat cancer between back-to-back Lightning Stanley Cups
    Jul. 9• Lightning
    Becca Sloan, left, and her mom, Melisa Capri, stand outside Amalie Arena before the Lightning took on the Islanders in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals June 21.
  23. Elite 8: Lightning join exclusive back-to-back Stanley Cup club
    Jul. 8• Lightning
    Lightning captain Steven Stamkos hoists the Stanley Cup after the Lighting defeated the Dallas Stars in last year's final.
  24. How female athletes and women’s sports can benefit from NIL
    Jul. 6• Gators
    Eight-time All-American Alyssa Baumann, a Florida gymnast, could join other high-profile female athletes in good position to capitalize on their name, image, likeness.