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Literally he wasn’t, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Vaughn, now a true sophomore free safety at the
“If I could go back, I would ask coach (Kurt Kummer) to put me on kickoffs,” said Vaughn. “There were some times when I was like ‘Why not?’ “
If Kummer had acceded to Vaughn’s wishes, it might have provided another headache for opponents.
During that aforementioned senior year, Vaughn rushed for 860 yards and 11 touchdowns; caught nine passes for 222 yards plus three scores; returned two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns; and made 25 tackles (including three sacks) to go along with one interception.
“We’re very stingy in how we give stats,” Kummer said. “Robert had 25 solo tackles. His numbers could have been inflated if we gave stats a different way.”
No wonder he earned All-Scholastic honors from the Boston Globe, was voted to the Massachusetts State All-Star Team (which is limited to the state’s best 22 players) and also was voted the Hockomock League’s Most Valuable Offensive Player.
Oh, for good measure, Vaughn also won the outdoor state championship in both the 110-meter high hurdles plus the long jump and earned four varsity letters in basketball. During the spring of his senior year, he was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic pick in track and field.
“If we gave Robert the ball 30 times a game, he would have had gaudier stats,” said Kummer. “He was electric back there. And on kickoffs and punts, everybody finally got smart and started kicking the ball out of bounds.
“He was on the field all the time. The only thing he didn’t do was play on the kickoff team. Plus, with a lot of our games, he didn’t play much in the second half when the game wasn’t on the line because we didn’t want to run it up and we didn’t want him to get hurt.”
Given Vaughn’s natural athletic ability, it’s conceivable that he could have chosen another sport.
Wrong.
“Football’s been my first love,” said Vaughn, who has helped the Huskies into a top 25 ranking and into contention for a Bowl Championship Series berth. “Since I was seven I was playing football. It’s the sport I’ve been most competitive in. I played basketball, baseball and a lot of sports when I was growing up. But everything focused on football since I was little.
“I always looked forward to football season more than any other season - even more so when I got to high school, given how much it means to the community. I knew this was what I wanted to do since I started playing sports, unlike some kids who said it was a tie between football and basketball.”
While Vaughn plays free safety for the Huskies, he played strong-side linebacker for the Rocketeers (again this underscores his versatility).
“Robert played the ‘SAM’ position in our 4-3,” said Kummer. “To do that, you must be the best athlete on the field. He was our most all-around athletic player because you must play on the line and then drop back as a linebacker.
“We blitzed a lot with him and did a lot of different things. In high school you need more physical kids at linebacker. Robert was fast and he liked to hit people. He was a natural at it for us.”
Even though Vaughn possesses a wealth of natural athletic ability, he was wise enough in high school to realize he couldn’t just show up for fall practice and expect to go full tilt.
“The biggest thing is off-season workouts,” said Vaughn, who leads the Huskies with six interceptions this season. “It’s all hard work. But you want to go into camp already feeling like you were in camp. In off-season workouts you’re doing everything 100 percent just like you do in practice.
“The coaches know what they’re doing. If you’re a great athlete and are coachable and have that competitive nature, you’re going to do special things. The most important thing is not to let anybody out-work you.”
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Parents can nominate youth football coaches at all levels online at ResponsibleSports.com through December 7, 2007. One coach from each state will receive $500 cash grant from Liberty Mutual. Winners will be announced in December 2007.
To nominate a Responsible Coach click here.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.