SE: Sproles, Vaughn Have Mutual Appreciation for Each Other’s Game
Oct 04, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Walking into the newly constructed Shamrock Zone at Bill Snyder Family Stadium for the first time, Kansas State great Darren Sproles peered wide-eyed at the wall-sized videoboard inside the lobby. He sat on a purple-upholstered chair in his purple t-shirt adorned with a white Powercat just hours before his induction into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame and soaked it all in.
The Shamrock Zone above the south end zone is one of many multimillion-dollar improvements made around the stadium in which one of the greatest players in Big 12 Conference history set 23 school records en route to 4,979 rushing yards. Sproles' rushing total ranked 11th all-time in college football history. His exploits helped the Wildcats to a pair of 11-win seasons and the 2003 Big 12 Championship title.
"It feels great to see all the changes," he began. "I just wish that we would've had all of this when we were in school, but I'm happy K-State has this. We played during the 'grind' years, those years when we really got on the map. It feels good to see this. It'll help with recruiting."
Sproles, who finished fifth in the voting for the 2003 Heisman Trophy, looked at the football field where magic happened, including his school-record 292 rushing yards against Louisiana in 2004 and his 273 rushing yards against Missouri in 2003. But the Wildcats' 27-20 upset win over No. 11 Southern California, in which he had 20 carries for 78 yards and 1 touchdown, holds a special place in his heart.
"That was memorable," he said. "That was my first start against a big team. Coach (Bill) Snyder always tried to prove people wrong. People said I was too small, not fast enough and not durable enough, and Coach Snyder went out of his way to prove those people wrong. I do laugh at the doubters because they always thought you had to be big in order to not get hurt. I always said, 'The big ones get hurt, too.' With my stature, it was really hard for teams to get a good shot at me. That was my thing. They couldn't get a square shot on me.
"But I think about the little things the most, like running out onto the field on game day and our crowd going crazy. That's the stuff that you miss. I miss those years when we were rolling, just that feeling that we couldn't be beat."
The crowning moment came in a 35-7 victory in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game, which gave the Wildcats their first league championship since 1934. Oklahoma had been touted as arguably the best team in the history of college football. Sproles ran all over them.
"They were No. 1, and we were big underdogs," said Sproles, who had 235 rushing yards to go along with 88 receiving yards and 1 touchdown against the Sooners. "We were constantly proving people wrong. That's K-State. They called Oklahoma the best team ever. They were good, though. I just remember the toss and making Derrick Strait miss for a long run that got us going. Then we started clicking."
After the milestone victory, Snyder touted Sproles for the Heisman Trophy in an on-field postgame interview at Arrowhead Stadium. However, Sproles did not receive an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He also did not earn the Doak Walker Award as the finest running back in the nation.
Does Sproles hold a grudge over the pair of slights?
"You want me to be honest? Yeah," he said. "But you move on. Our offensive linemen did a hell of a job that whole year. We had the best offensive line in the nation. But you know how it is, they don't like K-State."
Sproles ended his NFL career sixth in history with 19,696 all-purpose yards, trailing Jerry Rice, Brian Mitchell, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, and Frank Gore. Sproles also remains the only player in NFL history with more than 2,200 all-purpose yards in four different seasons.
Could Sproles earn the nod for the NFL Hall of Fame?
"You never know, but I hope so," he replied. "If Devin Hester gets in, then I have a pretty good chance, I feel like. But it's up to them."
Sproles flew in from Los Angeles with wife Michel and their three daughters on Thursday, and he attended K-State's football practice. K-State head coach Chris Klieman asked him to share some words with the team.
"I told them I wanted them to choose if they wanted to be good or great," Sproles said. "If you want to be good, that's average, and you might go to a bowl game. If you want to be great, you'll win the Big 12 Championship, go to a big bowl, but it's a lot of work. A lot of work comes with that. You must have dedication and commitment, and there are going to be some sacrifices."
It was after practice that the 5-foot-6, 190-pound Sproles met 5-foot-6, 172-pound sophomore running back Deuce Vaughn face-to-face for the first time. They spoke briefly about when Deuce's father, Chris Vaughn, a Dallas Cowboys scout, introduced himself to Sproles at the 2020 NFL Combine, and asked Sproles to FaceTime his son, Deuce, a K-State signee.
On FaceTime, Sproles told Vaughn: 'Welcome to the family. People might be worried about you because of your size, but you're going to the right place. They're going to give you a shot. Just make the most of it.'"
Now one day before Sproles would be formally announced on the football field as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, Sproles and Vaughn, eye to eye, just stood and talked.
"One-hundred percent, that was one of the coolest moments of my life," Vaughn said. "That's somebody I've idolized. To have a conversation with him and to pick his brain and ask him questions, just to see him and meet this person that I've been looking up to, and who is the blueprint for the greatest undersized running back to ever play this football game, it was ridiculous.
"It was fantastic."
Over Sproles' 15-year NFL career that stretched between the San Diego Chargers, the New Orleans Saints, and the Philadelphia Eagles, he spoke to several smaller running backs who also called requesting his advice. In particular, he mentored current Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and former Eagles running back Donnel Pumphrey.
"I take pride in that," Sproles said. "I take pride in always doing the right thing, so it gives my younger generation something to look up to. I love that."
Now Sproles had the opportunity after K-State practice to speak with another admirer. Vaughn, a preseason All-American, already has more than 1,000 career rushing yards, and 640 career receiving yards, third most in school history among running backs and fullbacks. Vaughn asked Sproles about his preparation, watching film, and how he took care of his body over a 15-year career. He asked Sproles about his time at K-State and in the NFL.
"I picked his brain about anything I could think of," Vaughn said. "Whenever you get compared to a great player like that, it's something you definitely take to heart. You're like, 'Man, this is someone who has done it for a very, very long time at the highest level.' To be compared with him is humbling. It's no undo pressure. There's no pressure except playing the game that I love. I'm honored to be in the same conversation or sentence with him."
Weeks before Vaughn left his hometown of Round Rock, Texas, to begin his career at K-State, Vaughn said, "I always wanted to be like Darren Sproles, whether it's Barry Sanders or him, or any of those guys who were deemed shorter or too small to play the sport, and then went on to have some of the highest success in the NFL. Barry Sanders and Darren Sproles are two of the guys I grew up and watched and was like, 'Wow.'"
Sproles carries a special appreciation for Vaughn's abilities as a weapon in the K-State passing game.
"He just has to keep doing what he's doing," Sproles said. "I told him after practice that he's ahead of me when I was in college with his route running. He just needs to keep going. It was good to meet him face-to-face. He had a lot of questions. I answered them."
Vaughn appeared taken aback that Sproles appreciated his skills.
"That's crazy to even think about," Vaughn said. "The way that he ran the ball and had success in the NFL is something I idolize. To hear that is pretty humbling."
During his induction into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame, Sproles recalled a story when Olathe North High School head coach Gene Wier long ago told him: "When you get a chance, make them forget about your size."
Sproles did that, and he casted a large shadow during a journey that will land him in the College Football Hall of Fame in December, and that could also result in an induction into the NFL Hall of Fame at some point as well.
In a meeting between the prodigy and the jedi, the torch was passed in Manhattan. And it was an encounter Vaughn, now armed with the blueprint, will never forget.
Vaughn has a tattoo underneath his left forearm that bears the roman numerals "XI • II • MMI" or November 2, 2001 — Vaughn's birthdate.
The tattoo also includes two words: "The beginning."
Walking into the newly constructed Shamrock Zone at Bill Snyder Family Stadium for the first time, Kansas State great Darren Sproles peered wide-eyed at the wall-sized videoboard inside the lobby. He sat on a purple-upholstered chair in his purple t-shirt adorned with a white Powercat just hours before his induction into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame and soaked it all in.
The Shamrock Zone above the south end zone is one of many multimillion-dollar improvements made around the stadium in which one of the greatest players in Big 12 Conference history set 23 school records en route to 4,979 rushing yards. Sproles' rushing total ranked 11th all-time in college football history. His exploits helped the Wildcats to a pair of 11-win seasons and the 2003 Big 12 Championship title.
"It feels great to see all the changes," he began. "I just wish that we would've had all of this when we were in school, but I'm happy K-State has this. We played during the 'grind' years, those years when we really got on the map. It feels good to see this. It'll help with recruiting."
Sproles, who finished fifth in the voting for the 2003 Heisman Trophy, looked at the football field where magic happened, including his school-record 292 rushing yards against Louisiana in 2004 and his 273 rushing yards against Missouri in 2003. But the Wildcats' 27-20 upset win over No. 11 Southern California, in which he had 20 carries for 78 yards and 1 touchdown, holds a special place in his heart.
"That was memorable," he said. "That was my first start against a big team. Coach (Bill) Snyder always tried to prove people wrong. People said I was too small, not fast enough and not durable enough, and Coach Snyder went out of his way to prove those people wrong. I do laugh at the doubters because they always thought you had to be big in order to not get hurt. I always said, 'The big ones get hurt, too.' With my stature, it was really hard for teams to get a good shot at me. That was my thing. They couldn't get a square shot on me.
"But I think about the little things the most, like running out onto the field on game day and our crowd going crazy. That's the stuff that you miss. I miss those years when we were rolling, just that feeling that we couldn't be beat."
The crowning moment came in a 35-7 victory in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game, which gave the Wildcats their first league championship since 1934. Oklahoma had been touted as arguably the best team in the history of college football. Sproles ran all over them.
"They were No. 1, and we were big underdogs," said Sproles, who had 235 rushing yards to go along with 88 receiving yards and 1 touchdown against the Sooners. "We were constantly proving people wrong. That's K-State. They called Oklahoma the best team ever. They were good, though. I just remember the toss and making Derrick Strait miss for a long run that got us going. Then we started clicking."
After the milestone victory, Snyder touted Sproles for the Heisman Trophy in an on-field postgame interview at Arrowhead Stadium. However, Sproles did not receive an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He also did not earn the Doak Walker Award as the finest running back in the nation.
Does Sproles hold a grudge over the pair of slights?
"You want me to be honest? Yeah," he said. "But you move on. Our offensive linemen did a hell of a job that whole year. We had the best offensive line in the nation. But you know how it is, they don't like K-State."
Sproles ended his NFL career sixth in history with 19,696 all-purpose yards, trailing Jerry Rice, Brian Mitchell, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, and Frank Gore. Sproles also remains the only player in NFL history with more than 2,200 all-purpose yards in four different seasons.
Could Sproles earn the nod for the NFL Hall of Fame?
"You never know, but I hope so," he replied. "If Devin Hester gets in, then I have a pretty good chance, I feel like. But it's up to them."
Sproles flew in from Los Angeles with wife Michel and their three daughters on Thursday, and he attended K-State's football practice. K-State head coach Chris Klieman asked him to share some words with the team.
"I told them I wanted them to choose if they wanted to be good or great," Sproles said. "If you want to be good, that's average, and you might go to a bowl game. If you want to be great, you'll win the Big 12 Championship, go to a big bowl, but it's a lot of work. A lot of work comes with that. You must have dedication and commitment, and there are going to be some sacrifices."
It was after practice that the 5-foot-6, 190-pound Sproles met 5-foot-6, 172-pound sophomore running back Deuce Vaughn face-to-face for the first time. They spoke briefly about when Deuce's father, Chris Vaughn, a Dallas Cowboys scout, introduced himself to Sproles at the 2020 NFL Combine, and asked Sproles to FaceTime his son, Deuce, a K-State signee.
On FaceTime, Sproles told Vaughn: 'Welcome to the family. People might be worried about you because of your size, but you're going to the right place. They're going to give you a shot. Just make the most of it.'"
No caption needed 🤝 #KStateFB x @DarrenSproles pic.twitter.com/nneZsmxZ7e
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) October 2, 2021
Now one day before Sproles would be formally announced on the football field as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, Sproles and Vaughn, eye to eye, just stood and talked.
"One-hundred percent, that was one of the coolest moments of my life," Vaughn said. "That's somebody I've idolized. To have a conversation with him and to pick his brain and ask him questions, just to see him and meet this person that I've been looking up to, and who is the blueprint for the greatest undersized running back to ever play this football game, it was ridiculous.
"It was fantastic."
Over Sproles' 15-year NFL career that stretched between the San Diego Chargers, the New Orleans Saints, and the Philadelphia Eagles, he spoke to several smaller running backs who also called requesting his advice. In particular, he mentored current Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and former Eagles running back Donnel Pumphrey.
"I take pride in that," Sproles said. "I take pride in always doing the right thing, so it gives my younger generation something to look up to. I love that."
Now Sproles had the opportunity after K-State practice to speak with another admirer. Vaughn, a preseason All-American, already has more than 1,000 career rushing yards, and 640 career receiving yards, third most in school history among running backs and fullbacks. Vaughn asked Sproles about his preparation, watching film, and how he took care of his body over a 15-year career. He asked Sproles about his time at K-State and in the NFL.
The 🐐 @DarrenSproles giving the young #wildcats some knowledge, congratulations on your induction to the College Football #HOF pic.twitter.com/hI24sGGoYR
— Coach Brian Anderson (@CoachAnderson15) October 1, 2021
"I picked his brain about anything I could think of," Vaughn said. "Whenever you get compared to a great player like that, it's something you definitely take to heart. You're like, 'Man, this is someone who has done it for a very, very long time at the highest level.' To be compared with him is humbling. It's no undo pressure. There's no pressure except playing the game that I love. I'm honored to be in the same conversation or sentence with him."
Weeks before Vaughn left his hometown of Round Rock, Texas, to begin his career at K-State, Vaughn said, "I always wanted to be like Darren Sproles, whether it's Barry Sanders or him, or any of those guys who were deemed shorter or too small to play the sport, and then went on to have some of the highest success in the NFL. Barry Sanders and Darren Sproles are two of the guys I grew up and watched and was like, 'Wow.'"
Sproles carries a special appreciation for Vaughn's abilities as a weapon in the K-State passing game.
"He just has to keep doing what he's doing," Sproles said. "I told him after practice that he's ahead of me when I was in college with his route running. He just needs to keep going. It was good to meet him face-to-face. He had a lot of questions. I answered them."
Vaughn appeared taken aback that Sproles appreciated his skills.
"That's crazy to even think about," Vaughn said. "The way that he ran the ball and had success in the NFL is something I idolize. To hear that is pretty humbling."
During his induction into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame, Sproles recalled a story when Olathe North High School head coach Gene Wier long ago told him: "When you get a chance, make them forget about your size."
Sproles did that, and he casted a large shadow during a journey that will land him in the College Football Hall of Fame in December, and that could also result in an induction into the NFL Hall of Fame at some point as well.
In a meeting between the prodigy and the jedi, the torch was passed in Manhattan. And it was an encounter Vaughn, now armed with the blueprint, will never forget.
Vaughn has a tattoo underneath his left forearm that bears the roman numerals "XI • II • MMI" or November 2, 2001 — Vaughn's birthdate.
The tattoo also includes two words: "The beginning."
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