Vaughn to be forever etched in Argos’ lore
Fumble recovery turning point in Grey Cup victory
Cassius Vaughn was standing near the end zone and his mind was racing.
“Zero, one, three,” he kept thinking. “Zero, one, three.”
It’s an expression the Toronto Argonauts defence talks about all the time. He was repeating it to himself over and over again. They can give up zero points, they can give one point or they can give up three. But no touchdowns.
And then he saw the football near the goal-line, bouncing toward him, out of the hands of Kamar Jorden, before he touched it, tucked it in and ran a record 109 yards for his Grey Cup touchdown.
Vaughn watched the play Monday on TSN over and over, saw it on Instagram, been sent copies of it to his phone.
“I saw it, I picked it up, I just kept going,” said the defensive back who last won a championship in high school in Tennessee. “I knew when I got that ball ain’t nobody going to stop me. There was too much at stake. I wasn’t going to be tackled by ( the Stampeders’) Bo Levi (Mitchell). I was thinking to myself, ‘ No way is a quarterback going to tackle me in the open field.’
“I just kept going. I don’t think anybody touched me. I used to be an offensive guy. I was a running back, a receiver, a quarterback, multisport athletes. I picked up that ball and I knew I was scoring.”
On the day after, after the inexplicable Argonauts championship victory, after the almost unexplainable plays that gave Toronto another CFL title, Vaughn was still trying to take stock of everything that happened. The game. The r easonably quiet party afterward. Watching the game again. Flying home t oday. His phone exploding with calls and messages. The victory. “A lot of reminiscing going on,” said the first- year Argo, playing with his seventh professional team. “A lot of hugging each other, embracing the moment, knowing we did what we came to do.”
And he wonders, after the fact, if he hadn’t changed shoes at halftime, would he have been able to pick up the fumble and sprint the 109 yards to score? One race down the sidelines and instead of it being Calgary 31, Toronto 16 it was Calgary 24, Toronto 24. The play changed everything. And then it was 27-24 Argos. And when Matt Black, the longtime Argo who was cut on the first day of August, intercepted Mitchell, it was game over.
And there was celebration and agony depending on your address or affiliation.
Vaughan likes to call the Argos equipment manager the bolt. “He kept the door on the hinges,” said Vaughn. “That’s what he does. He told us early in the week we might need different shoes. I changed at halftime. A lot of us did. If I don’t change my shoes, I don’t know if I would have had the traction to score. Everything about us was preparation. We didn’t leave anything to chance.”
The run by Vaughn is probably the longest and most significant in the Argos’ Grey Cup history. Even in the reduced Argos community this makes him a figure for the ages. Instead of a Leon McQuay fumble or a Harry Abofs muff, there is the 109 yards of Vaughn to consider, now and forever.
His father was named for Cassius Clay and he was named Cassius for the very same reason. “It’s not how you got the name, it’s what you do with the name that counts,” he said. “I want to make people remember. That’s the foundation of my family, the foundation of me and before me. I’m a Muhammad Ali fan. I’ ll always be a Muhammad Ali fan.
“And I want to be a guy who makes a difference. I used to be an offensive guy. Being a defensive guy now, when I get the ball in my hand, I don’t think there’s an offensive guy who can tackle me. I want to put on a show.”
The show for him came Sunday night in the 105th Grey Cup. It was a better play than the interception he took to the end zone off NFL quarterback Philip Rivers years ago or the one he scored on earlier this season.
This Grey Cup had some Eric Tillman in it for the Argos. He traded Ricky Ray to Toronto. He brought Vaughn to the CFL in Hamilton after stops in five NFL towns. “He told me I’d have fun here.” The Ticats cut him in May.
“People counted me out,” said Vaughn. “People said you’re not that good. Being able to redeem myself now means a lot. It means a lot to a lot of players on this team.”
And a lot to coach Marc Trestman and to Vaughn’s defensive co-ordinator Corey Chamblin.
“They taught me things other coaches didn’t teach me. They are real teachers. If you only think about football, you won’t mean that much to them.”
He called Trestman “the most mature and civilized man I’ve ever met. People got to witness a great masterpiece put together by this man.”
Now he turns to the fans of all sport in Toronto, so many of whom wouldn’t know his name before Sunday night, and asks for help.
“We need support, we need 30,000 a game ,” Vaughn said. “We’ve supported you in how we’ve played, now we need you to support us. And one more thing.
“We need Ricky Ray back. Come back Ricky, please.”
BEING ABLE TO REDEEM MYSELF NOW MEANS A LOT.