Ke'Shawn LaMont Vaughn (born May 4, 1997) 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 with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and Vanderbilt.

Early years

Vaughn attended

Pearl-Cohn Comprehensive High School Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet School (or simply Pearl High School) is a public magnet high school located in Nashville, Tennessee. History Pearl-Cohn was established in 1983 when Pearl High School and Cohn High School merged to form Pearl Coh ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. As a senior, he rushed for 2,646 yards and 45

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

and was named the Tennessee

Gatorade Football Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

. Vaughn was also a high school

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

standout, anchoring the state champion 4 x 100m relay his senior year. A 4-star running back recruit, Vaughn committed to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

to play college football over offers from

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Notre Dame,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, among others.

College career

As a true freshman at

in 2015, Vaughn rushed for 723 yards on 157 carries with six touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2016, he had 301 rushing yards on 60 carries and three touchdowns. After the season, Vaughn transferred to

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. After redshirting his first year at Vanderbilt in 2017 due to transfer rules, he rushed for 1,244 yards on 157 carries and 12 touchdowns in 2018. Vaughn returned to Vanderbilt for his senior season in 2019 rather than declare for the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vaughn was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the third round, 76th overall, of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list on July 27, 2020. He was activated on August 9, 2020. Vaughn scored his first professional touchdown on a nine-yard reception from

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

in a Week 4 victory over the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. Overall, Vaughn finished his rookie season with 26 carries for 109 rushing yards in ten games. Vaughn earned a Super Bowl ring when the Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9 in Super Bowl LV. On December 26, 2021, in a game against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, Vaughn scored the first rushing touchdown of his career on a 55-yard tote, the longest score of the year on the ground for the Buccaneers. Vaughn was waived by the Buccaneers on December 15, 2023.

New England Patriots

On December 19, 2023, the

signed Vaughn to their practice squad.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioVanderbilt Commodores bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, KeShawn 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee American football running backs Illinois Fighting Illini football players Vanderbilt Commodores football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New England Patriots players