 Vaughters with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2025 | |||||||||||
| No. 93 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive lineman | ||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||
| CFL status | American | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1993-06-27)June 27, 1993 (age 32) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Tucker (GA) | ||||||||||
| College | Stanford | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2015: undrafted | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Career CFL statistics | |||||||||||
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James Alan Vaughters (born June 27, 1993) is an American professionalfootballdefensive lineman for theWinnipeg Blue Bombers of theCanadian Football League (CFL). He playedcollege football atStanford. Vaughters was signed by theGreen Bay Packers as anundrafted free agent in 2015. He has also been a member of theNew England Patriots,San Diego Chargers,Chicago Bears,Atlanta Falcons,Pittsburgh Steelers, andCalgary Stampeders.
Vaughters was born to Jonathan and Vanessa Vaughters inChicago, Illinois. He is the third of four children: Jahnisa Tate, Jonathan Vaughters, and younger sister Ryan Vaughters. After moving to Ohio in 1996, James and family moved toStone Mountain, Georgia where he lived the rest of his childhood from 1999 to 2011.
AtTucker High School inTucker, Georgia, Vaughters accumulated accolades as a student, as a community mentor, and as an athlete. He graduated in the top 10% of his class with a 4.0 grade point average, including a curriculum consisting of severalAdvanced Placement classes. He helped Tucker to their first State Championship and two semi-final appearances. He was a top-recruitedlinebacker according to all the national recruiting platforms includingESPN,Scout,Rivals,MaxPreps, andPrepStar. As a senior, Vaughters had 95tackles, 18tackles for loss, fourinterceptions (one fortouchdown), foursacks, and onefumble recovery (for a touchdown).[1] He earned honors as anUnder Armour All-American, 2010 Georgia Class 4A Defensive Player of the Year, DeKalb County All-Class Defensive Player of the Year, two-time Georgia Merit Scholar, two-timePresident's Education Award recipient,National Beta Club,National Honors Society, and a Franklin D. Watkins Award finalist for the nation’s top African-American scholar-athlete.[1] He also appeared in several national publications includingThe Wall Street Journal.[2]
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AtStanford University, Vaughters earned a degree in political science and played football. He started at outside linebacker for his junior and senior seasons, after contributing as both an inside and outside linebacker for his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a senior, Vaughters had 51 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks in 13 games.[3] He was the Defensive MVP of his finalcollege football game in the2014 Foster Farms Bowl. He played in the2015 East-West Shrine Game, an annual college football all-star game held byShriner's Hospital for Children. Vaughters is also a member ofOmega Psi Phi and was involved in other student organizations including Men Against Abuse Now (MAAN) and the Stanford PACS (Philanthropy and Civil Society) Community Grants Program.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft1+7⁄8 in (1.88 m) | 248 lb (112 kg) | 32+1⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | 4.87 s | 1.66 s | 2.84 s | 4.47 s | 7.09 s | 32.5 in (0.83 m) | 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m) | 35 reps | |
| All values are fromPro Day[4] | ||||||||||||
After going undrafted in the2015 NFL draft, Vaughters signed with theGreen Bay Packers on May 8, 2015.[5] On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Packers during final team cuts.[6] Vaughters was signed to the Packers'practice squad two days later.[7] The team placed him on the practice squad injured list after suffering a torn left distal bicep tendon on September 30, 2015.[8] He was released by the Packers with an injury settlement on October 3, 2015.[9]
On January 21, 2016, Vaughters signed a future contract with theNew England Patriots.[9] He was released by the Patriots on May 2, 2016.[10]
Vaughters was signed to the practice roster of theCalgary Stampeders of theCanadian Football League on July 25, 2016.[11]
On August 15, 2016, Vaughters was signed by theSan Diego Chargers.[12] He was released by the Chargers during final team cuts on September 3, 2016.[13]
Vaughters returned to the Stampeders for the next two seasons where he played in 33 games, recording 50 defensive tackles, 11 quarterback sacks, and eightspecial teams tackles. He won aGrey Cup in his second year as a member of the team.
On January 8, 2019, Vaughters signed a reserve/future contract with theChicago Bears.[14] On August 31, 2019, Vaughters was cut and signed to the practice squad the next day.[15][16] He was released on September 12, but returned to the practice squad on October 29.[17] He was promoted to the active roster on November 2,[18] and made his NFL debut in that weekend's game against thePhiladelphia Eagles. He mostly played on special teams, appearing on nine plays there and four on defense. He was released the next Monday and re-signed to the practice squad.[19] He was promoted back to the active roster on November 9, but waived two days later and re-signed back to the practice squad.[20] He returned to the 53-man roster on November 16 afterTrey Burton was placed oninjured reserve.[21] He was waived again on November 19 and re-signed to the practice squad.[22] On December 30, 2019, Vaughters was signed to a reserve/future contract.[23] In Week 5 of the 2020 season against theTampa Bay Buccaneers onThursday Night Football, Vaughters recorded his first career sack onTom Brady during the 20–19 win.[24] He signed a contract extension with the team on March 3, 2021.[25] On August 31, 2021 Vaughters was released by the Bears.[26]
On September 3, 2021, Vaughters was signed to theAtlanta Falcons practice squad.[27] On September 11, 2021, Vaughters was elevated to the active roster prior to the Falcons’ first game of the 2021 season versus thePhiladelphia Eagles.[28] He was signed to the active roster on November 2, 2021.[29] On May 2, 2022, he was released by the Falcons.[30]
On August 15, 2022, Vaughters signed with thePittsburgh Steelers.[31] He was waived on August 30.[32]
On January 25, 2023, Vaughters signed with the Stampeders, with whom he had been a member two previous occasions.[33] However, he played in just six regular season games in2023 where he recorded 15 defensive tackles, five sacks, and two forced fumbles.[34] In2024, he played in all 18 games where he had 32 defensive tackles, five sacks, and two forced fumbles.[34] He was released in the following off-season on January 27, 2025.[35]
On January 31, 2025, it was announced that Vaughters had signed with theWinnipeg Blue Bombers.[36]
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