Deuce Vaughn

Deuce Vaughn's Biography

Christopher “Deuce” Vaughn II was born on November 2nd, 2001 and is a well-regarded professional football player based in the United States. He currently holds the position of running back for the renowned Dallas Cowboys, one of the teams in the National Football League (NFL). Prior to this, Vaughn played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats.

Vaughn ended up moving around a fair amount throughout his childhood, which can largely be attributed to his father’s career as a college football coach. His experiences eventually led him to settle down in Round Rock, Texas. Here, Vaughn attended Cedar Ridge High School, where he not only played football but also participated in track and field.

During his junior year, Vaughn amassed an impressive 1,901 rushing yards, accomplished 21 rushing touchdowns, and achieved 9 receptions. Additionally, he managed to earn 159 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. Given these achievements, it’s not surprising that he received honorable-mention all-state honors from the respected Texas Sports Writers Association.

His senior year saw great success, too, as he broke Cedar Ridge’s single-season rushing record with 1,938 yards, grabbed 589 receiving yards, and 25 touchdowns. One particularly noteworthy highlight was when Vaughn rushed for 375 yards against Round Rock High School, as well as 302 yards with an incredible 5 touchdowns when competing against Westwood High School. His amazing performance led to him receiving his second consecutive District 13-6A Offensive MVP award.

Vaughn’s high school football career concluded with him having achieved 4,405 rushing yards, 38 rushing touchdowns, 914 receiving yards, 11 receiving touchdowns and 5,472 all-purpose yards. Additionally, he accomplished 153 return yards. Regardless of his size, Vaughn was a 3-star recruit and had offers from several programs such as the Air Force, Arkansas, Army, Kansas, Missouri, North Texas, South Florida, UTSA, and Wyoming. Moreover, he received preferred walk-on offers from Baylor, Oklahoma State, New Mexico, Texas Christian, and Virginia Tech. He decided upon a football scholarship from Kansas State University.

Vaughn started his freshman year as one of the Wildcats’ best running backs and soon became the team’s primary choice over Harry Trotter during the early phase of the season. He had three games in his career where he surpassed 100 rushing yards against Texas Tech, Baylor, and Texas. Moreover, he recorded a 129-yard receiving game against Oklahoma. In total, he registered 123 carries for 642 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 25 receptions for 434 yards, two receiving touchdowns, and seven kickoff returns for 145 yards. In recognition of his contributions, he was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year as well as the second-team All-Conference.

During his sophomore year, Vaughn was included in the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. His accomplishments this year included 235 carries for 1,404 yards (6-yard avg.), 18 rushing touchdowns, 49 receptions for 468 yards (9-yard avg.), and four receiving touchdowns. He also had nine games where he achieved over 100 rushing yards and one game with over 100 receiving yards. His career-high 162 rushing yards, combined with 70 receiving yards and three rushing touchdowns were obtained in a match against Kansas.

Vaughn’s junior year was equally impressive, as he recorded 293 carries for 1,558 yards (5.3-yard avg.), nine rushing touchdowns, 42 receptions for 378 yards (9-yard avg.), three receiving touchdowns and 1,936 all-purpose yards. He was the third player in school history to secure multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and the first player to obtain 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in one career.

He concluded his college career ranking second in school history with 651 carries and 3,604 rushing yards. Additionally, he had a 5.5-yard average with 34 rushing touchdowns. He also had 21 games with more than 100 rushing yards, which was also the second highest in school history. His other notable achievements included 116 receptions for an impressive 1,280 yards (11-yard avg.), 9 receiving touchdowns, 7 kickoff returns for 145 yards (20.7-yard avg.), 5,029 all-purpose yards (third in school history), 258 points scored (sixth in school history) and 279 rushing yards in bowl games (a new school record). He managed to achieve all this while becoming one of only two Big 12 players to ever amass over 3,600 rushing yards and 1,250 receiving yards during their career, a record held only by DeMarco Murray. He was named a consensus All-American for the 2022 season.

Vaughn was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (212th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft. It was his father, who serves as a scout for the Cowboys, who shared the exciting news with him that he had been drafted. This was a significant event, as Vaughn, who measured 5’5″ at the combine, became the shortest running back ever drafted since the NFL began tracking the combine. Unfortunately, on January 3, 2024, he was placed on the reserve/injured list due to an ankle injury. Up to that point, he had appeared in 7 games as a third-string running back, compiling 23 rushes for 40 yards, 7 receptions for 40 yards, and 4 punt returns for 19 yards. He was declared inactive in 9 games.

Vaughn’s father, Chris, has an extensive history in football as well. He played college football at Murray State and is now a scout for the Dallas Cowboys after previously working as an assistant coach at Arkansas, Ole Miss, Memphis, and Texas. Meanwhile, Deuce himself is a proud member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated.