James Vaughters

James Alan Vaughters (born June 27, 1993) is an American professional football linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Stanford. Vaughters was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He has also been a member of the New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early life
Vaughters was born to Jonathan and Vanessa Vaughters in Chicago, Illinois. He is the third of four children: Jahnisa Tate, Jonathan Vaughters, and younger sister Ryan Vaughters. After moving to Ohio in 1996, James and family moved to Stone Mountain, Georgia where he lived the rest of his childhood from 1999 to 2011.

At Tucker High School in Tucker, Georgia, Vaughters accumulated accolades as a student, as a community mentor, and as an athlete. He graduated in the top 10% of his class with a 4.0 grade point average, including a curriculum consisting of several Advanced Placement classes. He helped Tucker to their first State Championship and two semi-final appearances. He was a top-recruited linebacker according to all the national recruiting platforms including ESPN, Scout, Rivals, MaxPreps, and PrepStar. As a senior, Vaughters had 95 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four interceptions (one for touchdown), four sacks, and one fumble recovery (for a touchdown). He earned honors as an Under Armour All-American, 2010 Georgia Class 4A Defensive Player of the Year, DeKalb County All-Class Defensive Player of the Year, two-time Georgia Merit Scholar, two-time President's Education Award recipient, National Beta Club, National Honors Society, and a Franklin D. Watkins Award finalist for the nation’s top African-American scholar-athlete. He also appeared in several national publications including The Wall Street Journal.

College career
At Stanford University, Vaughters earned a degree in political science and played football. He started at outside linebacker for his junior and senior seasons, after contributing as both an inside and outside linebacker for his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a senior, Vaughters had 51 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks in 13 games. He was the Defensive MVP of his final college football game in the 2014 Foster Farms Bowl. He played in the 2015 East-West Shrine Game, an annual college football all-star game held by Shriner's Hospital for Children. Vaughters is also a member of Omega Psi Phi and was involved in other student organizations including Men Against Abuse Now (MAAN) and the Stanford PACS (Philanthropy and Civil Society) Community Grants Program.

Green Bay Packers
After going undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft, Vaughters signed with the Green Bay Packers on May 8, 2015. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Packers during final team cuts. Vaughters was signed to the Packers' practice squad two days later. The team placed him on the practice squad injured list after suffering a torn left distal bicep tendon on September 30, 2015. He was released by the Packers with an injury settlement on October 3, 2015.

New England Patriots
On January 21, 2016, Vaughters signed a future contract with the New England Patriots. He was released by the Patriots on May 2, 2016.

Calgary Stampeders (first stint)
Vaughters was signed to the practice roster of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League on July 25, 2016.

San Diego Chargers
On August 15, 2016, Vaughters was signed by the San Diego Chargers. He was released by the Chargers during final team cuts on September 3, 2016.

Calgary Stampeders (second stint)
Vaughters returned to the Stampeders for the next two seasons where he played in 33 games, recording 50 defensive tackles, 11 quarterback sacks, and eight special teams tackles. He won a Grey Cup in his second year as a member of the team.

Chicago Bears
On January 8, 2019, Vaughters signed a reserve/future contract with the Chicago Bears. On August 31, 2019, Vaughters was cut and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on September 12, but returned to the practice squad on October 29. He was promoted to the active roster on November 2, and made his NFL debut in that weekend's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He mostly played on special teams, appearing on nine plays there and four on defense. He was released the next Monday and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted back to the active roster on November 9, but waived two days later and re-signed back to the practice squad. He returned to the 53-man roster on November 16 after Trey Burton was placed on injured reserve. He was waived again on November 19 and re-signed to the practice squad. On December 30, 2019, Vaughters was signed to a reserve/future contract. In Week 5 of the 2020 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, Vaughters recorded his first career sack on Tom Brady during the 20–19 win. He signed a contract extension with the team on March 3, 2021. On August 31, 2021 Vaughters was released by the Bears.

Atlanta Falcons
On September 3, 2021, Vaughters was signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad. On September 11, 2021, Vaughters was elevated to the active roster prior to the Falcons’ first game of the 2021 season versus the Philadelphia Eagles. He was signed to the active roster on November 2, 2021. On May 2, 2022, he was released by the Falcons.

Pittsburgh Steelers
On August 15, 2022, Vaughters signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was waived on August 30.

Calgary Stampeders (third stint)
On January 25, 2023 Vaughters signed with the Stampeders, with whom he had been a member of one two previous occasions.