Vickiel Vaughn

Vickiel Vaughn (born October 24, 1983) is an American football safety who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas.After spending 30 days in jail for failure to pay child support, he went on to play for the Arkansas Diamonds in the Indoor Football League. Currently, he is finishing a BA at the University of Arkansas.

Early years
Vaughn attended Plano West Senior High School in Plano, Texas. He was rated as one of the nation’s top 25 football players by The Sporting News and one of the top 125 by USA Today. He caught 25 passes for 414 yards and five touchdowns as a senior wide receiver. He racked up 67 tackles and six interceptions in his final prep campaign on defense. He made four interceptions as a junior before tearing his right ACL. He ranked as the second safety in the nation by Rivals100.com and rated as the fourth safety in the country by Max Emfinger. He was a member of Tom Lemming’s Prep Football All-American team]. He made SuperPrep’s All-American squad and was rated the second defensive back in the nation by the same publication. He participated in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl Game in San Antonio, Texas.

College career
Vaughn appeared in all 14 games for Arkansas as a true freshman in 2002. His mainstay was on special teams. He was on the punt return and kickoff coverage squads. He made three tackles throughout the course of the season, including two in special teams action. He earned his first collegiate stop with a solo tackle against South Florida. He made a solo tackle in the regular season finale against LSU. He had one solo stop against Minnesota in the Music City Bowl.

In 2003, after spending his first season as a free safety, he moved in fall camp to the wolf linebacker position. He played in all 13 games with a large majority of his early-season action coming on special teams. He ranked second on the team with 10 special teams tackles.

He had 23 tackles and one interception on the season. He was tied for second on the squad with two forced fumbles. He played extensively against Kentucky earning four tackles and his first career tackle for loss against the Wildcats. He had five tackles against South Carolina. He made two big plays on a USC fourth-quarter drive to keep the Gamecocks out of the end zone. On third down, he made a touchdown-saving pass break up near the Razorback goal line. Then on fourth down, he forced a fumble that was recovered to halt the scoring drive.

In 2004, he played in 11 games with 10 starts. He started the first seven of eight contests at free safety before starting the final three contests at strong safety. He led the Razorbacks with 66 tackles, including 47 solo stops. His 6.0 tackles per game average ranked 26th in the Southeastern Conference. He was tied for the team lead with two interceptions (92 yards). His 92 yards in interception returns ranked third in the SEC. He also tallied three pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He recorded eight or more tackles in four of his final six contests. He posted a career-high 10 tackles against Texas. He earned his first collegiate start at free safety against Missouri State in the season opener and registered three solo tackles. He came off the bench to turn in one of the best game of his career against Auburn where he 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 tackles. He had four interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and recovered one fumble. He had 10 tackles, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery against Missouri State. He led team with 11 tackles and two passes defensed against Vanderbilt. He had eight tackles against Alabama. He returned one interception for a 52-yard score against South Carolina. He had six tackles, one pass defensed and two interceptions against LSU.