As cornerbacks go, no player in NFL history instilled more fear in wide receivers or running backs than Dick "Night Train" Lane. Like a hungry predator stalking his prey, Lane was known to allow the opposition's receiver to catch a pass, just so the receiver was well aware of the consequences should he try to do it again. Dick Lane burst onto the NFL scene in 1952 by setting a record for most interceptions in a single season: 14. Accomplished when the NFL played only a 12-game regular season, this record still stands today. Lane also ranks 3rd all-time for career interceptions with 68. Though his gambling style of play produced many interceptions, it was Lane's ferocious tackling that is most memorable. Many a receiver in the '50's and '60's cringed at the prospects of facing the "Night Train" one-on-one. Their fears were well-founded. Lane's preferred technique of tackling was to "rip" a receiver down by his neck and head. This "rip" often had receivers more concerned about their well-being than the football. For this reason, the NFL eventually outlawed this "head-hunting" technique. This, however, did not diminish Lane's ability to dominate games. In 1969, just 4 years after his retirement, Dick Lane was voted the best cornerback in the first 50 years of the NFL. Five years later he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, forever remembered as one of the hardest hitters in NFL history.
