We just got our first look at the NFL’s shortest player of all time and honestly he looks pretty good.
With the 212th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn. Standing at a mere 5’5’’, Vaughn is unofficially the shortest player to ever make the league. Combine records only go as far back as 2003. Thus, according to CBS Sports, Vaughn is the shortest player to ever be measured at the NFL Combine and then go on to be drafted.
Well, with training camps starting up around the league, the media has just gotten its first look at the little guy.
It’s pretty clear how small Deuce is compared to the rest of the team. I mean, even his coaches look like they could eat him.
Despite his size (or lack of it), Deuce uses his extreme speed and elusiveness to get away from defenders. Once he gets into the open field, it’s like chasing around a greased pig. You’d be lucky to get a hand on him, but taking him down is a completely different story.
Early Comparisons
His size and quickness have already drawn comparisons to longtime Chargers, Saints, and Eagle’s running back Darren Sproles. At 5’6’’, Sproles was once deemed the shortest guy in the league, yet was able to sustain an impressive 15-year career in which he earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and one Super Bowl ring.
Though I definitely see the comparison, I think there is another one that no one is talking about: Markquis Nowell. The basketball player? Yup, the basketball player.
Aside from the two young players both hailing from Kansas State University, they are both considered undersized for their sports. Moreover, both were signed to teams willing to take a chance on their raw talent. It will be a tough, uphill battle for each to make their respective roster, but the odds have been stacked against each of them their entire lives.
Just like how many fans around the country are rooting for Nowell to succeed after his impressive March Madness run, I am now rooting for Deuce. He is feisty, scrappy, electrifying, and all the other words people use to describe small athletes.
Deuce remains the fourth running back on the Cowboys’ depth chart. Hopefully we get to see more of his explosiveness in the Cowboys’ first preseason game against the Jaguars on August 12.
