Machota: Cowboys’ draft-day surprise - How Deuce Vaughn joined his dad in Dallas

Cotton

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DECEMBER 31: Deuce Vaughn #22 of the Kansas State Wildcats is tackled by Brian Branch #14 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter of the Allstate Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome on December 31, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

By Jon Machota
Apr 29, 2023

With his voice cracking, Chris Vaughn tried to get the words out.

“Hey, buddy,” he said. “This is Dad. My phone wasn’t working. Look here, man. You want to come to work with me next week?”

The Dallas Cowboys assistant director of college scouting was talking on speaker phone with his son, Kansas State star running back Deuce Vaughn.

“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Deuce responded.

Chris was standing in the middle of the Cowboys draft room. The entire front office, scouting staff and coaching staff erupted in cheers at Deuce’s response.
The Cowboys selected Deuce in the sixth round, No. 212 overall.

“I’ve never had an experience like that in the draft room,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.


When a player is drafted by the Cowboys, vice president of player personnel Will McClay usually makes the initial call. He then hands the phone over to Jones. After a brief conversation, Jones then hands it to head coach Mike McCarthy. Next in line is usually the coordinator or position coach who will be working with the player.

But the Cowboys changed it up for this pick. As they were getting closer to going on the clock, Jones, McCarthy, McClay and executive vice president Stephen Jones knew Deuce was going to be the pick if he was still there. But they didn’t tell Chris.

“The lead up to it was pretty cool,” McCarthy said. “The way Jerry started talking about one of the (other) players on the board, for a minute there I thought (looking at Jerry) you had changed your mind.”

At the time, Deuce was the highest-graded player left on the Cowboys board. Chris wanted to point that out but also wanted to be as professional as possible. He thought they were about to draft a different player. And then things got quiet in the room.

“It was like a joke that everybody was in on except for me,” Chris said. “(Jerry) said I could turn the card in. It was kind of weird and it wasn’t registering then.”

Jerry was trying to hand Chris a napkin, pretending it was a draft card, like teams previously used when making a pick.

When Chris realized what was happening, he broke down crying. He was then embraced by several staff members as everyone stood cheering and clapping.


“He just told me that he was proud of me,” Deuce said of the draft call with his father. “He told me that it didn’t matter when, it didn’t matter what pick, it mattered going to the right place. It mattered going to a place that was going to be able to suit you and be the right fit. It was huge because these last four months, talking on the phone at night with him and having to calm my nerves some nights and him just being there for me and just being a resource. For it to happen like this, it’s hard to put into words. I’m going to keep saying it’s unreal because it feels unreal right now.”

Chris thought Deuce would eventually get drafted on Saturday, but he didn’t call to check in so Deuce could keep his phone free. At the start of the sixth round, Chris texted his wife to see how Deuce was doing. He could tell things probably weren’t going well back home.

And then Deuce called. A couple of teams had reached out saying that they would love to sign Deuce as a priority undrafted free agent if he didn’t get selected. That’s the first time Chris sensed that his son was thinking he might not get picked, that being only 5-foot-5 and 180 pounds might have caught up to him.

“His voice was cracking,” Chris said. “He’s got a houseful of people, so there’s disappointment. It was weird because it was almost like he was apologizing for not getting drafted and kind of reassuring me. That’s devastating for a parent. You can feel the pain and they’re saying it’s going to be alright. And I’m going into dad mode. … I’m emotional. I’m pumping him up.”

As Chris was ending the call, he started wiping tears from his eyes. He needed to get himself together and get back into the Cowboys draft room.

Jones’ napkin bit followed shortly.

“Best (phone call) I ever made,” Chris said while breaking down in front of reporters. He added that he’s keeping the napkin, and will probably have Jerry sign it.


“In 30 years in this league, I’ve never seen that,” McCarthy said. “That was a very special moment.”

While Vaughn doesn’t have the ideal size, he was extremely productive in college, rushing for nearly 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns over his last two seasons. He also finished his college career with 1,280 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns in 37 games.

“My son has always been short,” Chris said. “That’s been a superpower for him for a long time. People would say, ‘Well, if he was a little bit taller,’ and I would say, ‘Well if he was, he might not be the same person.’ (He might not have) the same drive, the same mentality, the same want. The same thing that you can’t put a grade on, a number on. He might not be the same. I see a lot of those guys all the time. They have all the traits, and don’t have that.”

In his final college game, Deuce rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Stephen Jones mentioned that performance while talking about the team’s newest running back.

“I mean, this guy is one of the best football players in the country, period,” Stephen said. “You know when you go to the pros unfortunately they start taking into account things like your height, your weight, but I will tell you one thing, you watch him run through Alabama’s defense breaking ankles and doing the things that he did, he’ll make a believer out of you in a hurry.”

Jerry Jones mentioned comparisons to Darren Sproles, the 5-6 running back out of Kansas State who made three Pro Bowls while playing 15 seasons in the NFL. Jerry also pointed out that new Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was with the Chargers, as quarterbacks coach, when they drafted Sproles in the fourth round in 2005.

“I think clearly Deuce can play in the normal flow of our offense on first and second down,” McCarthy said. “I think stating the obvious, as far as the protection component we’ve got to work together there, but there are some very distinct situational thoughts and concepts that I have in mind already. Randall Cobb-ish-type things I’ve done in the past. Yeah, we’ll definitely have opportunities for him to take advantage of his productivity. He’s a dynamic player.”

After the pick was officially in, Chris made the rounds, hugging everyone in sight. After embracing McCarthy, the two shared a few words.

“He won’t let you down,” Chris said. “I promise you that.”
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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Starring Forest Whitaker as Mike McCarthy, Neil Patrick Harris as Brian Schottenheimer, and Helen Mirren as Jerry Jones.
Jerry Jones does not boast the tits that Mirren does.
 

ZeroClub

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It is a nice story, but at some point they need to turn off the milking machine because there's only so much feel-good in any feel-good story.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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It is a nice story, but at some point they need to turn off the milking machine because there's only so much feel-good in any feel-good story.
They can revisit this until he plays.

And then he will write his own story.
 
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