Lane, "Dick" "Night Train" (Richard)
Football
b. April 16, 1928, Austin, TX
d. Jan. 29, 2002
Selected the best cornerback of the NFL's first fifty years in a 1969 poll of sportswriters, Lane was an unlikely prospect when he walked into the Los Angeles Rams training camp in 1952 and asked for a tryout. He had played at little Scottsbluff Junior College in Nebraska and had then spent two years in the army.
The Rams were impressed with his size--6-foot-2, 210 pounds--and his speed, so they tried him at wide receiver. To learn the position, he spent hours talking to veteran Tom Fears, who constantly played "Night Train," a hit record of the time, on his phonograph. Somehow Lane got the nickname "Night Train" as a result.
Finally, coach Joe Stydahar moved Lane to defensive back, and he was an instant sensation. As a rookie, he intercepted 14 passes in 12 games, still the NFL record, running them back for 298 yards and 2 touchdowns.
After an off year in 1953, Lane was traded to the Chicago Cardinals, and he responded by again leading the league in interceptions with 10. He remained with the Cardinals through 1959, then went to the Detroit Lions. He retired after the 1965 season.
An All-Pro in 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963, Lane had 68 interceptions in his 14 NFL seasons, returning them for 1,207 yards and 5 touchdowns.