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+---- Thread: *Norfolk Seawolves Rookie Spotlight (/showthread.php?tid=23206)
*Norfolk Seawolves Rookie Spotlight - J0EB - 06-21-2020
Hello again everyone, I’m Matt Cross, former safety of the Norfolk Seawolves. After a brilliantly successful interview with Ragnar Krashwagen, I’ve been lucky enough to interview another new Seawolf. Today, I’m sitting down with rookie cornerback Rickie Vaughne. At 6’11”, 210 pounds, Vaughne has a great build to match up against some of the best opposing wide receivers in the league. Drafted with pick #29, in the 4th round, Vaughne fills one of Norfolk’s biggest needs entering the draft.
Howdy Rickie, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me today, I’ve been looking forward to talking with you for a while now and I’m really excited to get to know you a bit better so why don’t we get started right away? I read up a little bit about your life before the league and honestly to say you had it pretty rough growing up would be an understatement. I don’t want to dwell too much on the gloominess of your early life in the orphanage but to ignore it completely I feel would be irresponsible since it was an integral part of your youth, so instead of asking what it was like growing up there, I’ll ask this, how do you feel that your time there may have shaped you into the man you are today?
Coming from a place like an orphanage gives you an appreciation for those who have not had it super easy in life. In the orphanage, you rarely saw a well-rounded kid with aspirations and desires for a better life. That was life I knew for so long. I thought my life was going to be nothing more than a lifeless crap show where I had nothing to look forward to or aspire to be. Places void of that love and aspiration for others are so void of hope that it is something that can be near impossible to learn if you have lived there long enough. Having hope is something that the orphanage taught me was so important. If Martha had not been able to instill that in me I do not know what I could have done. Through the act of being devoid of it, the orphanage taught me to aspire.
That would be unbearable, hope is such an important factor in life, I can’t even imagine living without it. The worst part is that you’re not the lone case here either, like you said there are many kids in the orphanages who are struggling like you were and not all of them are brought into livable and welcoming situations. My heart goes out to all of them.
This is the only other question related to your past I’ll ask because like I said I don’t want to linger and I feel it better to focus on the present and the future. But after serving 5 years in prison, obviously while you previously held great talent and were a top rated prospect, do you feel like you’ve lost some of that? How hard has it been to get back into football fully?
Prison can be hard on the body although not for physical sake. Your mental well being is as important if not more important than your ability to exercise and eat healthfully. When you are stressed and worried your body reacts by not allowing you to stay in such pristine health. That hurt me the hardest in prison. The overwhelming guilt and anger I felt allowed me to let go of myself in prison. At my fattest I weighed nearly 30 pounds more than I did when I was about to enter the draft. In my last year or so in prison, I found myself starting to feel better after the prison implemented an organized sports program. One of the sports offered was football and I was asked to be on the team. After 2 games I realized that I was so out of shape that I could barely play anymore. I began to work hard everyday to get into better shape and soon I was in nearly as great physical shape as I was when I was in college. It was then that I decided I wanted to pursue football upon my exit from prison. When I finally was realized I joined a local recreational league with others my age and began to take personal workout classes at my local gym. I remember being contacted by a scout for the Norfolk Seawolves about 6 months after prison being asked to have a workout for the upcoming draft. I was still eligible to be drafted and after being scouted I continued to keep up the hard work until the fateful day of the draft. I had no idea if I was going to be selected at all. When I finally was drafted by my hometown team it was one of the best feelings I have ever felt.
You’ve gone through so much in your life and overcome so many obstacles, you should be really proud of where you’re at today. All of that is in the past now, the future is wide open and you have the power to shape it in whatever way you choose.
I'd like to pivot now and focus more directly on football and the league, what are your thoughts on your draft position, being selected in the 4th round at pick 29?
I was so thankful just to have a shot in the league that I did not care where I got drafted. I remember it was extremely nerve wracking to not know if I would get taken or not but when I was drafted was of the least importance in my mind.
Being from Southeastern Virginia, you grew up watching the Seawolves and were a fan of the team, so how does it feel to be playing for them now? What was the moment like hearing your name called at pick #29 for your local team?
When I was sitting in the draft room I was hoping to get simply drafted above all-else but in the back of my mind every time Norfolk came up I crossed my fingers a little tighter. When the 29th pick came and Norfolk was at the helm and I heard Bex read my name, it was magical. I was so ecstatic that I wanted to cry. I will say that I am much happier with the team I ended up on compared to the team I would have ended up on The Portland Pythons.
What drew you to the position of cornerback?
When I was little I was always the best wide receiver. I loved catching the ball and running it away from people trying to tackle me. I became so good at it that I got bored of it and I thought to myself. What is more awesome? A receiving Touchdown or a pick-six. I decided that a pick-six was infinitely more exciting and dedicated to becoming a cornerback in order to get interceptions.
Can confirm, pick sixes are way cooler.
And you wear number 77 which is quite strange for a DB, is there significance behind that number at all?
Not particularly. I have always preferred two-digit numbers divisible by 11. I also have worn 77 for a long time because I could not think of one great player who wore that number and I wanted to be unique and be the first great player to wear that number.
Honestly I chose to wear #33 with practically the identical reasoning. It looks cool in my opinion y’know, having the repeated number.
How was it at Virginia Tech? What would you say was the most important football skill or knowledge that you learned in your three years there?
I loved Virginia Tech. The fans at Virginia Tech and the stadium are some of the best in not only college football but the world. Every game was insane and you could feel the ground shaking during big moments. I loved Blacksburg as well. It is very small and quaint but I love some of the architecture and history in it. In terms of football, I would say the most important skill I learned was to focus but also enjoy the game. When I was in high school I found that I would often get so angry and fed-up with things that I could sometimes not even focus on the game. When I decided to start not taking things as seriously and started focusing on just having fun on the field I saw my results getting better and better over time.
It’s funny to think that enjoying the game can help you improve but I would absolutely agree with you there. When I’m out on the field or when I’m at practice I’m doing my best to just have fun. Football is so much fun and by embracing that while playing you really tend to loosen up and relax, I use it a lot to counteract stress and some of the anxieties of the game so I totally know how you feel and the fact that you have learned that already as a rookie is really nice.
What has your impression of Norfolk been so far? Has it lived up to your expectations?
I have loved being in Norfolk so far. The locker room is great although I feel bad for not being quite as active as I am in my PBE locker rooms but I still have loved the environment of the place. It has lived up to my expectations and surpassed them astronomically.
Do you have any goals as a rookie?
Not particularly. Personally I find that I care about team success much more than I do my personal success. I hope I do well and I will work to make sure I do well but my goals lie more in my team's success. If I can help lead Norfolk to a DSFL championship than I will feel much more validated than any personal trophy I have earned.
Well thank you again Rickie, it’s been a pleasure talking with you today. Good luck in Norfolk and here’s hoping you can bring home that championship trophy! To the audience, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed another peak at the S23 class of Seawolves. Have a good night everyone!
1715 words, please pay @supertardis101 75% of profits.