Dick Lane
Dick Lane, also known as "Night Train," was a prominent African American professional football player born on April 16, 1928, in Austin, Texas. Growing up during the Great Depression, Lane faced significant challenges, including poverty and segregation, which hindered his aspirations of playing for the University of Texas. His athletic talent shone through at Austin's Anderson High School, where he excelled in both football and basketball. After moving to Nebraska, he continued to pursue sports, eventually joining the U.S. Army, where he played for the Fort Ord base team.
In 1952, Lane made a remarkable entry into the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams, setting a league record for interceptions during his rookie season. His nickname, "Night Train," was inspired by a popular song and became synonymous with his playing style. Over his career, Lane played for the Rams, Chicago Cardinals, and Detroit Lions, earning multiple accolades, including All-Pro selections and Pro Bowl appearances. He retired with a total of 68 career interceptions and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974. After his football career, Lane contributed to the community by serving as the executive director of the Detroit Police Athletic League until his passing in 2002. Lane's legacy endures as a benchmark for defensive backs in the NFL.
Dick Lane
Football Player
- Born: April 16, 1928
- Birthplace: Austin, Texas
- Died: January 29, 2002
- Place of death: Austin, Texas
Sport: Football
Early Life
Richard Lane was born on April 16, 1928, in Austin, the capital of Texas. Located in the center of the state, at that time Austin was a small city where oilmen, cattle ranchers, and politicians rubbed elbows with students from the University of Texas, which was located only a short distance from the capital.
Growing up in Austin during the 1930’s was difficult for Dick because he was poor and black. During the Depression, finding work was difficult for African Americans in Texas. His mother left him with a foster mother when he was very young. Dick had to attend segregated black schools. While he dreamed of playing for the University of Texas Longhorns, the dream could not come true, because Texas did not allow black students to attend white colleges.
The Road to Excellence
When Dick began to play sports at Austin’s Anderson High School, he was an immediate star on both the football and basketball teams. As an end in football, he led Anderson to the state football championship finals for black high schools and was named to the all-state team. Though only 6 feet 1 inch tall, he played center on the basketball team and was also named to the all-state basketball team.
When Dick’s foster mother died following his junior year in high school, Dick moved to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, to live with his biological mother. Instead of going to high school, Dick enrolled at Scotts Bluff Junior College, where he could finish high school and begin college at the same time. He played on the football team and was so successful that he was named to some 1947 junior college all-American teams. He had trouble at home with his mother, however, and at the end of the football season he joined the U.S. Army.
While in the U.S. Army, Dick played three seasons for the Fort Ord base team. In 1951, he caught eighteen touchdown passes for Ord against a schedule of army teams and some colleges.
The Emerging Champion
In the summer of 1952, Dick got a tryout with the NFL champion Los Angeles Rams. His chances of making the team were poor, because he was too small to play defensive end, and the Rams were loaded with such outstanding offensive ends as Tom Fears, Bob Carey, and Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch. Dick was tried at defensive back, where he was an immediate success because of his excellent pass-catching ability, his speed, and his toughness.
Dick got his nickname during the 1952 preseason camp. “Night Train,” by Buddy Morrow, was a popular song that summer. The song was a favorite of Tom Fears, the great Ram end, to whom Dick often went for advice. Teammates began to associate Dick’s constant visits to Fears’s room, and the fact that he was African American, with the song. The name stuck. In a 1990 interview, Dick said he was unsure if he liked the name, adding,
But in a preseason game against Washington we handled their star Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice pretty well. The next day a headline said something like “Night Train derails Choo Choo.” After that I knew I had a name for life.
From the first game of the season, Night Train was the starting cornerback, but the Rams lost their first game 37-7 to the Cleveland Browns and proceeded to lose three of their first four games. Night Train took many chances early in the season and led the league in interceptions, but he also gave up many touchdowns.
The Rams turned the corner in the fifth game of the season. With the Rams ahead of the Chicago Bears only 10-7, Night Train intercepted a Bear pass on the 35-yard line and returned it to the 4-yard line. The Rams scored easily and went on to beat the Bears 31-7.
The Rams then proceeded to win the next seven games to tie for the league championship with the Detroit Lions at nine wins and three losses. Night Train continued to intercept passes at a record rate. By the end of the season he had established a league record of fourteen interceptions. He had an unbelievable season for a rookie, particularly for someone who had played only one year of college football. In 1954, Night Train was traded to the Chicago Cardinals. He led the league again with ten interceptions.
Continuing the Story
After the 1954 season, Night Train never led the NFL in interceptions again. Most teams realized how strong he was at intercepting passes and would not throw in the area he covered. The Cardinals occasionally used Night Train on offense as a receiver; in 1955, he caught a ninety-seven-yard touchdown pass. The next year he caught one pass for a seventy-five-yard gain.
In 1960, at the age of thirty-two, Night Train was traded from the lowly Cardinals to the Detroit Lions, a power in the Western Conference. Defense was the Lions’ strength. Night Train, with his excellent speed and size for a defensive back, helped make Detroit’s pass defense solid. In addition, he was a good tackler, using the ring-neck tackle—tackling high around the neck and riding the ball carrier down.
From 1960 through 1962, the Lions, with players like Alex Karras, Roger Brown, Yale Lary, and Night Train Lane, had excellent teams, but each season they finished second in the NFL’s Western Conference to the great Green Bay Packer teams coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi.
Night Train was named to the all-pro team and to the Pro Bowl game each of those seasons. After 1963, though, age and bad knees caught up with him, and he retired at the age of thirty-seven following the 1965 season. Night Train received many honors after his retirement, including selection to the NFL all-pro team of the 1950’s. His highest honor, though, came in 1974, when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Night Train settled in Detroit after his retirement and worked as the executive director of the Detroit Police Athletic League. He died in 2002.
Summary
Despite childhood poverty and little college football experience, Dick “Night Train” Lane had an unbelievable rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1952. He not only made the team but also established an NFL record of fourteen interceptions. He continued as a defensive star for fourteen seasons and had sixty-eight career interceptions. Dick remains the player against whom other defensive backs are measured.
Bibliography
Carroll, Bob. Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
Reynolds, Neil. Pain Gang: Pro Football’s Fifty Toughest Players. Washington, D.C.: Potomac, 2006.
Sharp, Drew, and Terry Foster. Great Detroit Sports Debates. Champaign, Ill.: Sports, 2006.