Charles Wesley "Pug" Vaughan (March 18, 1911 – March 30, 1964) was 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 ...

. 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 ...

under head coach

Bob Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of Brigadier general (United States), brigadier general. He served three stints as ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

from 1932 to 1934 and professional football for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in 1935 and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

in 1936.

Early life

Vaughan was born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

in 1911. He enrolled at the

and played at the halfback position under head football coach

from 1932 to 1934. For many years, he was regarded as "perhaps the finest passer in Tennessee football history." Coach Neyland considered Vaughan the best passer he developed at Tennessee, adding: "Vaughan's passing was almost perfect. His timing couldn't have been improved. The ball just floated into the hands of the receivers." During Vaughan's three years playing for the Volunteers, the team compiled an overall record of 24–5–1 and outscored opponents by a combined score of 589 to 141. In December 1934, Vaughan was voted as the most valuable player on the 1934 Tennessee Volunteers football team.

Career

In his first year of professional football, Vaughan played for the 1935 Detroit Lions team that won the

1935 NFL Championship Game The 1935 NFL Championship game was the third National Football League (NFL) title game, held December 15 at University of Detroit Stadium (Titan Stadium) in Detroit, Michigan. The 1935 champion of the Western Division was the Detroit Lions (7– ...

. He appeared in seven games for the Lions, completing 7 of 15 passes for 104 yards and rushing for 51 yards on 13 carries. In July 1936, Vaughan was traded to the

. Playing for the

in 1936, Vaughan rushed for only 79 yards on 67 carries, but he became one of the leading passers in the NFL. He completed 30 of 79 passes for 546 yards. He ranked fourth in the NFL in passing yards and sixth in passes completed during the

1936 NFL season The 1936 NFL season was the 17th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions (neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL), and all league teams playe ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Vaughan served in the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

and played on the Coast Guard football team.

Death

In March 1964, Vaughan died at age 53 at Ft. Sanders Presbyterian Hospital in Knoxville. He had been seriously ill since September 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Pug 1911 births 1964 deaths American football running backs Chicago Cardinals players Detroit Lions players Tennessee Volunteers football players Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee