Richard "Dick" Lane (April 16, 1928 – January 29, 2002), nicknamed "Night Train", was an American football player, best known as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions. During his rookie season in 1952, Lane established the record for most interceptions in an NFL season (14).
He was born in Austin, Texas, and raised by Ella Lane, a woman who found him abandoned as an infant. After graduation from high school, he spent one year in junior college b...
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Richard "Dick" Lane (April 16, 1928 – January 29, 2002), nicknamed "Night Train", was an American football player, best known as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions. During his rookie season in 1952, Lane established the record for most interceptions in an NFL season (14).
He was born in Austin, Texas, and raised by Ella Lane, a woman who found him abandoned as an infant. After graduation from high school, he spent one year in junior college before dropping out and serving four years in the United States Army.
In 1952, the 24-year-old Lane showed up at the Los Angeles Rams training camp looking for a job because he disliked his current occupation at an aircraft factory. He was originally trying out for end, but the Rams switched him to defensive back. While with the Rams, he acquired the nickname "Night Train" from a hit record by Buddy Morrow, frequently played by teammate Tom Fears. He initially disliked the nickname, but it grew on him after it gained national attention, first...
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