Vickiel Vaughn (born October 24, 1983) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. 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 ...

at Arkansas.

Early years

Vaughn attended

Plano West Senior High School Plano West Senior High School (commonly West, Plano West, or PWSH) is a public high school in Plano, Texas serving high school juniors and seniors. Plano West is named after its geographic location within West Plano. The school is part of the Pl ...

in Plano, Texas. Rated as one of the nation's top 25 football players by '' The Sporting News'' and one of the top 125 by '' USA Today'', Vaughn caught 25 passes for 414 yards and five touchdowns in his senior year as a wide receiver. That same season as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, Vaughn made 67 tackles and six interceptions. ''Rivals100.com'' ranked Vaughn second among all high school safeties. Vaughn participated in the 2002

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

Game in San Antonio, Texas.

College career

Vaughn played college football for the University of Arkansas

Razorbacks The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

from 2002 to 2005, all under head coach Houston Nutt. Vaughn appeared in all 14 games for Arkansas as a true freshman in 2002. Primarily, Vaughn played on punt returns and kickoff coverage. He made three tackles throughout the course of the season, including two in special teams action. He had one solo stop against Minnesota in the 2002 Music City Bowl. As a sophomore in 2003, after spending his first season as a free safety, he moved to linebacker position in fall camp. He played in all 13 games and played mostly on special teams early in the season. Vaughn was second on the team with 10 special teams tackles and had 23 overall tackles, one interception, and two forced fumbles this season. Vaughn made two big plays on a South Carolina fourth-quarter drive to keep the Gamecocks out of the end zone. On third down, he made a touchdown-saving pass deflection near the Arkansas goal line. Then on fourth down, he forced a fumble that was recovered by Arkansas. As a junior in 2004, he played in 11 games with 10 starts. He started the first seven of eight contests at free safety then started the final three contests at strong safety. He led the Razorbacks with 66 tackles, including 47 solo stops. He also had two interceptions, three pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Vaughn had nine tackles, including seven solo stops, a fumble recovery and an interception against the Tigers. As a senior in 2005, Vaughn finished second on the team with 83

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

s. He had four interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and recovered one

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

Professional career

In the

, the San Francisco 49ers selected Vaughn in the seventh round as the 254th overall pick. The 49ers placed Vaughn on injured reserve on September 2, 2006, the day after Vaughn injured his finger in the 49ers' final preseason game. After the season, the 49ers allocated Vaughn to the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

. On December 31, 2007, the Denver Broncos signed Vaughn to a reserve/futures contract. The Broncos waived Vaughn on June 13, 2008. On August 1, the Broncos replaced safety John Lynch with Vaughn, then waived Vaughn on August 30. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on December 9, 2008. In 2010, Vaughn made his professional debut with the Indoor Football League (IFL)'s

Arkansas Diamonds The Arkansas Diamonds were a soccer club based in Little Rock, Arkansas that competed in the SISL and USISL. The team was first owned by Samir Haj, a youth club coach based in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The franchise struggled for funding as it fir ...

. Vaughn played in 8 regular season games and had 28 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown), and 5 passes defended. In the IFL's Intense Conference, Arkansas finished 11-3 and first in the Lonestar East division. Vaughn played in three playoff games and had 11 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 passes defended. Arkansas advanced to the IFL semifinals and lost to the Billings Outlaws 53–42 on July 10, 2010. Vaughn returned to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to finish his bachelor's degree in criminal justice. He graduated in 2012 and worked for Williams Sonoma for a year after graduating.https://www.linkedin.com/pub/vickiel-vaughn/79/395/830

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio

Arkansas Razorbacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Vickiel 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Plano, Texas Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas American football cornerbacks American football safeties Arkansas Razorbacks football players San Francisco 49ers players Frankfurt Galaxy players Denver Broncos players Dallas Cowboys players Arkansas Diamonds players