Strolling down memory laneNight Train was precursor to todays great cornerbacksBy Bill WallaceAs published in print June 3, 2002
Even with a new season pending, the last Super Bowl still sticks in the memory bank because it was such a good game New Englands victory achieved on that final drive with no margin for error, culminated by PK Adam Vinatieris field goal to upset St. Louis. Although Vinatieri and QB Tom Brady came away with the most plaudits, there was plenty of praise for the work of Patriots CBs Ty Law and Otis Smith on the Rams speedy receivers. That was impressive CB play. It was too bad that the guy who defined, if not invented the position, Dick "Night Train" Lane, failed to see the fine work of Law and Smith. Five days before the game he died in Austin, Texas, from a heart attack. He was 73. Lane, one of the first African-Americans to play in the NFL, came up the hard way. That perfect nickname matched his perfection on the field."Best cornerback ever to play the game," former Packers CB and Hall of Famer Herb Adderley said. "Ive never seen a defensive back hit like him." Lane used his size advantage (6-1, 194 pounds) against most of the contemporary receivers and added the "Night Train Necktie," an arm-around-the-throat tackle that was eventually outlawed. One time, while playing for the Lions against the Rams in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Lane stuck his cocked arm out to stop Rams ace RB Jon Arnett and clipped Arnett under the chin. The Rams runner flipped backward and lay on the turf for a long time. But what about the nickname, "Night Train"? Reporting to the Rams as a rookie out of the Army in 1952, Lane was assigned to the care of Tom Fears, the veteran All-Pro receiver who had a record player in his training-camp room. His favorite tune was the jazz piece recorded by the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, "Night Train." Lane later recalled, "Every day Id be going to (Fears) room and hed be playing it. His roommate, a guy named Ben Sheets, would say, Here comes Night Train! "The nickname stuck, and so did Lane, for 14 seasons in the NFL with the Rams, the Chicago Cardinals and most notably with the Lions. It was a wonder he ever reached that level. He was abandoned when he was 3 months old. Ella Lane, a widow with two children, found him in a trash bin covered by newspapers. A rough, tough teenager in Austin, Lane managed to get himself to Scottsbluff Junior College in Nebraska, where he played football for one season. Then he signed up with the Army and played on the team at Fort Ord, Calif. In his NFL era, players were most likely to be from a Notre Dame or a USC, and Scottsbluff J.C. came to be viewed as an aberration, close to the infamous "No College."The Rams found Lane at Fort Ord and suggested he look them up when he got through with a four-year hitch in the Army. He was an unknown 24-year-old sensation at their 52 training camp and easily made coach Joe Stydahars team as a starter. In a 12-game rookie season, Lane intercepted 14 passes, a single-season record that stands to this day. After that, quarterbacks worked the other side of the field, and Lanes interception chances diminished. His career total is 68, third-best after Paul Krauses 81 and Emlen Tunnells 79. A knee injury ended Lanes career in 1965. After that he did some college coaching at Central State in Ohio and at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He also had an association with the Police Athletic League programs in Detroit where he was a sought-after athlete in the Motor City. Often visiting Canton, Ohio, for the annual Hall of Fame ceremonies, Lane was a charismatic figure collecting a crowd of NFL people. There was strength there, in an even-tempered, wise man who liked to laugh. George Puscas, the longtime Detroit Free Press sportswriter, wrote that Lane was "a special man, a special player who will live on in the memories of those who saw him play. He was popular as widely admired and loved as few professional athletes ever become." Super Bowl XXXVI and "Night Train" Lane easy to remember, hard to forget. Bill Wallace has been writing about pro football for half a century and has been with Pro Football Weekly since its inception in 1967. He is based in Westport, Conn.