Jan. 30, 2007

AUBURN - Former Auburn football players John Vaughn and Kenny Irons will participate in the ninth annual State Farm College Football All-Star Challenge to air on ESPN Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.

The challenge is part of Super Bowl weekend and was filmed at Miami's Orange Bowl Stadium. Vaughn, a kicker, and Irons, a running back, are just two of the 12 players selected to participate in the event.

The challenge is a unique skills-and-drills competition that tests each individual player as they prepare for the NFL. In the previous eight years of the event, 29 players have gone on to be first-round selections in that year's NFL Draft, including former Auburn running back Carnell Williams who was the fifth overall selection in 2005 by Tampa Bay.

The challenge is produced by Chicago-based Intersport while Kirk Herbstreit leads the ESPN broadcast team. Other players slated to appear include Florida's Chris Leak, Robert Meachem of Tennessee and Ohio State's Troy Smith.

Vaughn ended his Auburn career as the school's all-time scoring leader with 312 points. He also finished with 50 field goals, an AU record, as his 20 field goals during the 2006 season were the second-best single-season total in school history. Those 20 field goals helped earn him the distinction as being a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's best kicker.

Irons spent two seasons with the Tigers after transferring from South Carolina and ended his Tiger career with the 10th-most rushing yards in school history (2,186). He opened his Auburn career in 2005 with 1,293 yards on the ground, placing Irons sixth in single-season team history. He finished with two first-team All-SEC selections.