Running back Vaughn Dunbar put together impressive ground totals for Snider High School's and Indiana University's football teams.
Vaughn Dunbar's numbers were as dizzying as his moves on a football field.
As a junior at Snider High School in 1985, the tailback rushed for 1,646 yards and 20 touchdowns. During his senior season, he rushed for 2,568 yards and 40 touchdowns, including 252 on 28 carries against Carmel in the state championship game.
Because his grades needed improvement, Dunbar went to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M where he rushed for 707 yards as a sophomore before going to Indiana University. After sitting out a year, Dunbar rushed for 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors in 1990.
During Dunbar's senior season, it seemed like no one could catch him. He started off with 161 yards rushing at Notre Dame, then 147 against Kentucky followed by a 265-yard performance against Missouri. By the time the season ended, Dunbar led the nation with an IU-record 1,805 yards. He was named first-team All-America and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
A 1991 first-round pick by New Orleans, Dunbar rushed for 565 yards to finish second in the Offensive Rookie of the Year balloting.
During his second pro training camp, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and missed the season. He came back the next season, but a contract squabble led to his release.
Dunbar, No. 32 in the photo above, signed with Jacksonville and rushed for 361 yards on 110 carries during the 1995 season. After that season, Dunbar told the Jaguars he wanted to test the market but could never catch on with another team.
