July 6, 2000 - Fred Lane, 24, Carolina Panthers RB:
Born September 6th 1975 in Franklin, Tennessee, Lane's career in football was one of the Cinderella stories of the NFL.
Overlooked in the NFL draft, Lane had been a standout player and starter for the team of Lane University in Jackson, TN. Fred Lane finished his college football career with a total of 3,612 rushing yards and was second for the Division II rushing title.
Lane was signed to the young Carolina Panthers in 1997 as a free agent, originally anticipated to do little more than survive training camp and reside at the anonymous end of the Panthers roster.
By the middle of his first season, however, Lane, who voiced the philosophy "Life is like a war: if you have the right ammunition, nobody can stop you" was part of the Panthers starting line up.
Lane's performances surprised his coaches, team owners, and statisticians of the NFL, with four 100-yard rush efforts in the 1997 season's final weeks- three coming in the final games of the season.
Lane set a single-game rushing record for the Panthers of 147 yards on November 2nd, 1997 against Oakland. The record remains unchallenged.
Despite great strides in his early athletic career, Lane struggled to mature in the fast world of professional athletics.
The same man who received the 1998 Role Model of The Year Award from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson, TN was suspended from play by Panthers management after misconduct incidents.
A Jackson TN Grand Jury indicted Lane only a few days before his death on misdemeanor drug charges. In April 2000 Lane was traded by the Panthers to the Indianapolis Colts.
The trade came a month after Lane's 25-year-old wife, Deidra filed a complaint with Charlotte NC police that Lane had "caused her to fall" during a domestic argument.
Despite his off-the-field issues, the Colts had designated Lane to be the back up for Pro Bowl runner Esgerrin James, a standout on the Colts Super Bowl caliber team.
His wife, Deidra, shot Lane to death during a domestic dispute on the afternoon of July 6th, 2000. The Lanes had two children together, a son, born in 1995, and a daughter born June 30, 2000. Police did not charge Deidra Lane in the shooting death of her husband.
