Good Night, Train; you were Super

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 2, 2002 by Capital-Journal

Dick "Night Train" Lane died the other day, just in time to miss the Super Bowl.

Rest in peace, old warrior, knowing you no longer have to watch a game that's changed so dramatically --- and not necessarily for the better --- from the days when you were one of the meanest defensive backs to ever play.

Dick Lane, for those too young to remember, made the clothesline tackle --- the "Night Train Necktie" it was called by those who didn't have to experience it --- his prefered way of tackling any receiver or runner who dared venture within his grasp.

The NFL eventually outlined the clothesline tackle, but it honored its leading practictioner by naming him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pat Summerall, who will call today's Super Bowl, called Lane "the best I've ever seen."

Lane had 68 interceptions in a 14-year career from 1952-65. Only two other players in NFL history have more. His 14 picks in his 14- game rookie season remain a record today, years after the league expanded to 16 games.

But there's no way the former LA Ram, Chicago Cardinal and Detroit Lion, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, could have afforded to play today.

Sure, he'd have commanded a huge salary and been worth every penny. But in a league that fines its players for looking cross-eyed at an opposing quarterback, Night Train would have merely signed over his paycheck.

The league needs some Night Train Lanes these days. I'd pay a scalper's Super Bowl asking price to see Randy Moss at the end of Train's forearm. Terrell Owens would think twice before dancing on the Rams midfield logo knowing the Train was coming.

How do you suppose Night Train Lane would have reacted to an opposing offense that calls itself "The Greatest Show on Earth?" Would Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt be so anxious to run those skinny slants against a D-back who made certain their 5-yard routes never became 15-yard gains.

Question: Could Night Train Lane have played for a defensive coordinator named Lovey Smith?

And how would Lane have dealt with New England's Antwan Harris, the Patriot who strutted into the end zone when returning a kick he neither blocked nor recovered, but rather received via a lateral. Harris would have done that once before saying Good Night to Train Lane.

Lane wouldn't exactly fit in today's image-conscious NFL world.

He never hid the fact that his mother was a prostitute, his father a pimp named Texas Slim. Supposedly abandoned in a dumpster when three months old, he was said to have been discovered and raised by a Texas woman who initially believed his infant's cries to be those of a cat. He earned the name "Cue Ball" not for a shaved head, but because he threw one at someone who owed him money after a pool game.

And you think Kurt Warner has a colorful background?

Jet-setting NFL celeb Jason Sehorn and wife Angie Harmon had nothing on Night Train, who took jazz singer Dinah Washington, the "Queen of the Blues," as one of his three brides. He walked in the crossover world of sports and entertainment long before today's endorsement-hungry athletes. He worked briefly as the road manager for ribald comedian Redd Foxx.

I'm hoping that somewhere in the hours of pre-game hype prior to today's Super Bowl, Fox finds room for a Night Train tribute. It may be more entertaining than this game turns out to be.