On Tuesday, the 2022 Class of the Gordon Wood Hall of Champions was announced, which includes former NFL star Kenny Vaccaro, who stopped by KOXE Wednesday morning for an on-air interview with Carl Wayne.
Vaccaro, Lee Grimes, Benny Garza, Jes Rathke, and the 1970 state championship football team comprise the 2022 Gordon Wood Hall of Champions which will be inducted Oct. 7 prior to the Lions’ district and homecoming game against Big Spring.
Vaccaro retired from the NFL in 2020 after spending eight seasons with the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans. The 15th overall pick in 2013 by the Saints, Vaccaro played in 94 career games and recorded 526 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 9 interceptions, 4 fumble recoveries and forced 4 fumbles.
Vaccaro also attended the University of Texas and played in 51 games, including 32 starts at safety where he earned All-American honors his senior season. Vaccaro tallied 158 tackles with 5 interceptions, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble in college.
During high school, Vaccaro played his first three years at Brownwood before transferring to Early prior to the start of the football regular season his senior year.
Vaccaro discussed receiving the call that he was joining the Gordon Wood Hall of Champions, the move to Early, and a number of other topics during the interview.
“Coach (Mitch) Moore called me and I told him this filled a void in my heart,” Vaccaro said of receiving the news he would be inducted into the Gordon Wood Hall of Champions. “It’s a dream come true. People just don’t understand. When I was 17 my mom literally took me to Early. People think that I left the team. I would die for the Brownwood Lions. Everybody knows that. The first time after I switched schools, Casey Pachall, Shelby Miller, Rashad Deal, all my best friends walked up and I just started bawling in the parking lot. I told them I was so sorry I couldn’t stay.
“I’ve always loved Brownwood, but it started wearing on me a little bit. I felt at times they didn’t even claim me. I put everything into Brownwood from 4 years old on track teams to 7-on-7, basketball, soccer, every sport all the way up to my junior year. I was only over at Early for three months before I tore my ACL. Maybe it wouldn’t have happened if I was in Brownwood, but maybe I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for that adversity of rehabbing my knee in my mom’s trailer, staying up all night on a machine that constantly rotates your leg to get your mobility back.”
Vaccaro torn his ACL shortly after arriving in Early, ending his high school career prematurely but setting him on the fast track for Texas. Despite the injury, Vaccaro was certain it wouldn’t be a setback once he arrived at the 40 Acres.
“I talked to Coach (Mack) Brown, who is a great, great person, one of the best people I’ve ever had a chance to meet, and he said they were going to honor my scholarship always,” Vaccaro said. “Now, ACL’s aren’t a big deal but back then people asked if I would get my explosiveness back, if I would still be as fast and quick. I was worried, but at the same time I knew with the mentality instilled in me at a young age, I knew I would do anything to get back to exactly where I was, and I did that. I dunked a basketball at Gregory Gym at UT three months after my surgery.”
Vaccaro reflected on growing up in Brownwood and how that molded him for the future.
“I came from nothing,” Vaccaro said. “Anything I got, I worked hard for every single day since I was 4 years old. I started running at 4 or 5 every day at Coggin Park. First it was 2 laps, 3 laps, 4 laps, then I finally got up to 10 laps in a row at a good pace while my mom drove around the block in a truck and I did it every single day. She was thinking about the future and I wanted to be a kid, but the things that got ingrained in me during my early days in Brownwood, I still have that same mentality, the way I work, even in business, it’s crazy how that translates.”
Asked frequently during his career about the possibility of playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Vaccaro shared a story of how that almost came to pass on draft night in 2013.
“I went to New York for the draft so I kind of knew I was going to go in the first round,” said Vaccaro, who was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team after his first professional season. “My agent, he’s one of the best agents in the world, David Mulugheta. He’s probably the youngest, most successful agent ever to do it. He told me I would go anywhere from 11 to 15. He was on the phone with Dallas actually and told them around the 10th or 11th pick they would have to trade up because the Saints were going to take me. Everybody says, ‘Man I wish Dallas would have picked you,’ but my agent called and told them if they wanted me, they had to trade up. They ended up trading back and taking Travis Frederick, who was a great center.”
On Dec. 1, 2021, Vaccaro announced his retirement from the NFL and the start of his esports organization G1, along with partners Hunter Swensson and Cody Hendrix.
Regarding retirement, Vaccaro said, “I probably could have played three more years, but I stepped away because I wanted to. I knew God was taking me in a different path, I truly knew that. For some guys, you play football all your life and that’s who you are. But I’ve always had so many other things inside of me besides sports, whether it was art, creating, writing music, just different things inside of me that you sometimes lose when you become an athlete and take it really, really seriously.”
As for the decision to enter the esports world, Vaccaro said, “From a very young age, I’ve always loved video games. After my rookie year, I broke my ankle in the last game, and I had to sit for six or eight weeks, so I went and bought a Playstation 4. This game called Destiny game out, it’s been around for a long, long time, it’s an iconic game and I got really good at it. I started competing at a high level and some friends online said if ever got an opportunity let’s start an e-sports org. The opportunity finally came up and we’ve had a lot of success, and part of that is I was a gamer before I was an athlete. G1, that’s what it means, Gamers First, and there’s a lot of people like that.”
Vaccaro has several other business ventures ongoing as well, all based out of Austin.
“There’s a 5,000 square foot facility for G1,” Vaccaro said. “I have three streaming set-ups, we have eight computers so we can compete against different teams. We have a podcast area, ping pong table, basketball hoops, and that’s actually connected to my gym. The Kollective is a 22,000-square foot gym, social performance club, super nice, high end, all inclusive. It has the physical therapy in house, it had cold tubs, saunas, we even have a sports psychologist that works in there. And that’s connected to Konnect, which is the new store I just opened. Even though I was dead poor growing up I still enjoyed fashion. Pretty much every brand I was able to afford once I got into the NFL, I put it all in there. I even have a spot called Kenny’s Kloset for all the stuff I didn’t wear in the NFL.”
Most importantly to Vaccaro, however, is he is now able to spend more time with his wife Kahli and their three sons, ages 10, 7, and 2.
“If I’m working at the office, I’ll have Kahli and the whole family come up there,” Vaccaro said. “The kids are running around and yeah it’s a circus, but I still get my family time in and I’m still getting to build a better future for them.”
