Dustin Vaughan (born January 27, 1991) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2014. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

Early years

Vaughan attended

Calallen High School Calallen High School is a public high school serving grades 9–12. The school is located in the Calallen Independent School District in northwest Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. Background Calallen's name comes from Calvin Joseph (Cal ...

. As a senior, he was named first-team All-District 31-4A at both

and punter. He also received All-Metro, All-South Texas and All-State academic honors. He practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He helped the

team win the class 4A state championship.

College career

Vaughan accepted a football scholarship from Division II

. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

freshman, he was the third-string

and appeared in 4 games. As a sophomore, he became the starter in the second game of the season, leading the team to an 8–3 record and a win in the

Kanza Bowl The Kanza Bowl was an American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). The game was played on the first Saturday of December ...

over the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, incl ...

. He registered 227-for-382 completions for 3,316 yards, 25

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s and 6 interceptions. He had 384 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in a 42–21 win against #5

Texas A&M University–Kingsville Texas A&M University–Kingsville is a Public university, public research university in Kingsville, Texas, United States. It is the southernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System. The university developed the nation's first doctoral degr ...

. He had 430 passing yards, 4

s and 21 rushing yards in a 49–35 win over

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...

. As a junior, he helped the team reach the NCAA Semifinal for the first time in school history. He posted 359-for-555 completions for 4,712 yards (third in school history), 45

s (second in school history) and 13 interceptions. He had 409 passing yards and 5

passes against

Western State University Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. Founded in 1966, it was acquired by Westcliff University in 2019. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the Amer ...

. He also had 5

passes against the

University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a public university in Carrollton, Georgia, United States. The university offers a satellite campus in Newnan, Georgia, Newnan, Georgia, select classes at its Douglasville Center, and off-campus Museum Studies c ...

. As a senior, he was the runner-up for the

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harl ...

. He recorded 5,401 passing yards ( Division II record) and 53 touchdowns (school record and third-most all-time in Division II). He finished his college career with conference and school records for passing yards, (13,525), total yards (13,608) and passing touchdowns (123). Vaughan graduated from West Texas A&M with a Bachelor's of Science in Pre-Medicine in 2013. He later earned a Master's degree in Business Administration and Management in 2021.Dustin Vaughn
on LinkedIn.com Retrieved September 27, 2023.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Vaughan was signed as an

by the

after the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He surprised observers by making the team as the third-string quarterback. On September 5,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, he was waived after the team decided to carry just two quarterbacks on the regular season roster. The Cowboys opted not to add him to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

, choosing instead to sign quarterback

Kellen Moore Kellen Christopher Moore (born July 5, 1988) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise Sta ...

, who had previous experience with the team's offensive coordinator

Scott Linehan Scott Thomas Linehan (born September 17, 1963) is an American football coach who serves as a senior offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He recently was an offensive analyst at Montana. He was the ...

Buffalo Bills

On September 23,

, he was signed to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

' practice squad. On October 19, he was released by the Bills to make room for

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Titus Davis Titus Davis (January 3, 1993 – November 11, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver. He played college football for the Central Michigan Chippewas, and holds the school records for both career receiving yar ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

On January 22, 2016, Vaughan signed a futures contract with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. On August 28, he was waived-injured by the Steelers after suffering a thumb fracture in a preseason game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and on September 2, he was released from injured reserve after reaching an injury settlement.

Baltimore Ravens

On December 27, 2016, Vaughan was signed to the Ravens' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Ravens on January 2, 2017. On August 14, 2017, the Ravens waived Vaughn.

San Antonio Commanders

On September 5, 2018, Vaughn signed with the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home games a ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

. On November 27, he was selected third-overall by the team in the inaugural AAF Draft. He was a backup behind

Logan Woodside Logan Miles Woodside (born January 27, 1995) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League ( NFL). He played college football for the Toledo Rockets football, Tole ...

until the league folded in April 2019.

Post-career

Vaughan held several management positions during and after his football career. Between 2018 and 2019, Vaughan was president of a seasonal and supplemental quarterback training program called QB Country. He briefly held management positions in other businesses before joining the Dallas-based industrial equipment supplier Darr Equipment Co in 2020.

References

External links

West Texas A&M Buffaloes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Dustin 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Cleveland American football quarterbacks West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players Dallas Cowboys players Buffalo Bills players Pittsburgh Steelers players Baltimore Ravens players San Antonio Commanders players