Cowboys WATCH: Deuce Vaughn and Luke Schoonmaker Get ‘Crazy’ Rookie Gifts from Idols

Dallas Cowboys rookies Deuce Vaughn and Luke Schoonmaker get hooked up with idols Barry Sanders and George Kittle.

Before Luke Schoonmaker and Deuce Vaughn don their Dallas Cowboys jerseys for the first time, they each received new threads that reminded them why they got into the gridiron business in the first place. 

Apparel company Fanatics staged a trip down memory lane for the league's incoming stars at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere earlier this offseason and shared the results on social media earlier this week. Rookies were greeted by their football idols in prerecorded messages, some active and some retired, offering gifts for the freshmen upon their professional entries.

Here's a pre-season pep talk from the Rookie Premiere that these @NFL rookies will never forget #FanaticsLockerRoom

Good luck to all the rookies! pic.twitter.com/zZEeInX85I

— Fanatics (@Fanatics) June 8, 2023

The tight end Schoonmaker, for example, was greeted by All-Pro George Kittle, who plays the same spot with the San Francisco 49ers. Vaughn, on the other hand, was granted a gift from fellow rusher Barry Sanders, well known for his shortened, if not legendary, career with the Detroit Lions.

"You're finally in the NFL," Kittle tells an emotional Schoonmaker. "It's a dream come true, but it's just the start of your journey."

The veterans have a special surprise in store for their de facto proteges in the form of autographed jerseys from Fanatics that contain further well-wishes. Vaughn sports an eternal smile upon viewing a signed Lions jersey from Sanders, whom he credits for starting his football journey in the first place. 

"This dude right here is the reason why I play this game. It's the reason why I work so hard," Vaughn, a sixth-round pick out of Kansas State, says of Sanders. "This is huge."

Schoonmaker "gets chills" reading an inspirational message from Kittle, who rose from a fifth-round arrival to become one of the NFL's most dominant tight ends.

"Luke, congrats on getting your foot in the door, now kick it down, be great today," Schoonmaker reads aloud, adding his own thoughts … "That's crazy."

Schoonmaker, a second-round choice out of Michigan will have a chance to thank Kittle in person this fall, as Dallas is slated to visit San Francisco for a Sunday night game on Oct. 8.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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