Dick Lane biography
Dick Lane, in full Richard Lane, additionally known as Night Train, (born April 16, 1928, Austin, Texas, U.S.—died Jan. 29, 2002, Austin), American gridiron soccer participant who's extensively thought-about one of many biggest cornerbacks in National Football League (NFL) historical past. Lane was named to seven Pro Bowls over the course of his profession, and his 14 interceptions in the course of the 1952 season are an NFL file.
Abandoned by his mom at three months of age, Lane was raised by the lady who discovered him discarded in a trash bin. He briefly performed soccer in junior school after which served within the U.S. Army for 4 years. At age 24, with no latest organized soccer expertise exterior of video games performed along with his military base staff, Lane walked into the workplaces of the Los Angeles Rams in 1952 and requested for a tryout. Lane impressed the Rams, who had initially tried him at offensive finish earlier than switching him to the defensive backfield, and he was supplied a spot on the staff. He earned a beginning position as a rookie and proceeded to take the league by storm, intercepting a file 14 passes in simply 12 video games.
Standing 6 toes 1 inch (1.85 metres) tall and weighing round 200 kilos (91 kg), Lane was bigger than a lot of the receivers he lined, and he rapidly gained a fame as a ferocious tackler. His signature sort out, which concerned wrapping his arms round an opponent’s neck and wrestling him to the bottom, turned generally known as the “Night Train Necktie” and was finally banned by the league for being too harmful. After two years with the Rams, Lane was traded to the Chicago Cardinals in 1954. In his first season in Chicago, he once more led the NFL in interceptions (with 10) and in addition earned the primary of seven profession Pro Bowl honours. He was dealt to the Detroit Lions in 1960 and retired from the game after the 1965 season.
After his retirement, Lane was the street supervisor for comic Redd Foxx for a short while, and he had teaching stints at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He was briefly married to famend rhythm-and-blues singer Dinah Washington till her demise in 1963. Lane was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974 and was chosen as certainly one of 4 cornerbacks on the NFL’s seventy fifth anniversary staff in 1994.