One of the coolest parts of the NFL Draft is watching the family members of a bunch of young men react to a pick. The draft is, among many other things, a celebration of the years of hard work a person put into achieving their NFL dream, and while there’s a long way to go from here, the weekend is both the start of one journey and the end of another.
Every now and then, you get a reaction from a parent that sticks with you, and on Saturday afternoon, we got one. The Dallas Cowboys used the 212th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Deuce Vaughn, an undersized running back out of Kansas State who was nothing short of sensational during his time in college. His dad, Chris, was unsurprisingly emotional over the pick, but the catch here is that Chris actually works for the Cowboys as the team’s assistant director of college scouting — according to Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network, Chris would actually leave the room when the team would do evaluations for Deuce.
Fortunately, the cameras in the Cowboys’ war room caught the whole thing, with the entire room giving him a standing ovation as he was moved to tears before he made his way over to celebrate with Jerry and Stephen Jones.
Here’s the emotional reaction in the Cowboys’ war room when the team used the 212th overall pick in the sixth round on Kansas St. RB Deuce Vaughn, son of Cowboys’ assistant director of college scouting, Chris Vaughn. pic.twitter.com/wC5dWw7IJp
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2023
The good news for the Cowboys is that this isn’t just a sentimental pick, as Deuce is an unbelievable football player. The former Wildcat was an All-American in each of the last two years — he was a unanimous All-American selection in 2022 — while accruing 4,884 yards and 43 touchdowns as a rusher and a receiver in three seasons of college ball.