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 1999-2011. At Tucker High School, in Tucker, Georgia, Vaughters accumulated accolades both as a student, community mentor, and as an athlete. He graduated in the top 10% of his class with a 4.0 GPA, including a curriculum consisting of several AP classes. He helped Tucker to their first State Championship and two semi-final appearances. He was a top-recruited linebacker on 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, four sacks, and one fumble recovery. He earned honors as an Under Armour All-American, 2010 GA Class 4A Defensive Player of the Year, DeKalb County All-Class Defensive Player of the Year, two-time GA Merit Scholar, two-time President's Education Award recipient, National Beta Club, National Honors Society, and a Franklin D. Watkins Award finalist. 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 and the Stanford PACS Community Grants Program.
Professional career
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
Vaughters was signed to the Calgary Stampeders' practice roster 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.
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.
