The Lane Dragons football program of Jackson, Tennessee competes in Division II of the NCAA as a member of the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black co ...

. They are led by head coach

Vyron Brown Vyron Brown is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, a position he has held since February 2020. After the 2020 football season was cancelled, Brown led Lane to a 6–4 season in 2021. B ...

, a former Grambling State University player and offensive coordinator. Former Lane defensive tackle Ernest Bonwell was drafted in 1971 in the 11th round by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. Former Lane defensive back/wide receiver Daryl Hart was drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the second round of the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft. He became a two-year player in 1984-85 for the

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can trac ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He also played Arena League professional football with the

Chicago Bruisers The Chicago Bruisers were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Rosemont Horizon. History Founding (1987) ...

and the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, culminating his career in 1991. For his Arena League career he caught 32 passes for 408 and 8 touchdowns on offense, and had 109 tackles and 7 interceptions on defense. Former Lane wide receiver/kick returner

Jacoby Jones Jacoby Rashi'd Jones (born July 11, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver and return specialist. He played college football at Lane College, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played ...

became the first NFL player in history to score a receiving touchdown and a return touchdown in a Super Bowl, as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. He played a total of 9 years in the NFL for the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jones ended his NFL career with 203 receptions for 2733 yards and 14 touchdowns. Former Lane running back Fred Lane played three years (1997–99) for the Carolina Panthers. He rushed for 2001 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Panthers. Former Lane running back Jason Brookins rushed for 551 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2001 for the Baltimore Ravens. Former Lane defensive tackle Ron Smith played one season in 2002 for the Cincinnati Bengals. Former Lane wide receiver Edward Williams played briefly with the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns from 2008-09.

History

Founded in 1882 by the Colored Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church in America as the “C.M.E. High School”,

Lane College Lane College is a private historically black college associated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and located in Jackson, Tennessee. It offers associate and baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences. History Lane College was ...

was named after Methodist Bishop

Isaac Lane Isaac Lane (1834–1937) was the fifth bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America, which established Lane College in 1882. The Jackson, Tennessee college was named after Lane. Isaac Lane was born March 4, 1834, in Madison County ...

, a co-founder of the school. Lane College's primary purpose was to educate newly freed slaves. Lane's campus is about 25 acres, just northeast of downtown Jackson, Tennessee. Along with Lane, Jackson is also home to

Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...

and

Lambuth University Lambuth University was a private Methodist university in Jackson, Tennessee. It was active from 1843 to 2011 and was supported by the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The university began as the Memphis Conference Fema ...

. Lane's football stadium is

Rothrock Stadium Rothrock Stadium is a stadium in Jackson, Tennessee. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of Lane College. Built in the 1930s, it originally served as the home field of the Union University Bulldogs, until Union end ...

, also referred to as "Lane Field." It was built in the 1930s and served as the home stadium of Union University until Union discontinued football in the 1950s. Rothrock/"Lane Field" seats 3,500 people, and the Jackson Sun newspaper has called for Lane College and the city of Jackson to step up and build a new stadium. A United States warship, the

SS Lane Victory SS ''Lane Victory'' is an American Victory-class cargo ship used in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. The ship was preserved in 1989 to serve as a museum ship in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California. As a rare survivin ...

, was named after Lane College. The ship is now a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

in San Pedro, California.

1947 team

The 1947 Lane Dragons football team ended the season as the 18th-ranked black college football team, according to the ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

'' and the Dickinson Rating System. For the year, the 1947 team outscored its opponents 194 to 87. Under 11th-year head coach Edward Clemons, the Dragons carved out a 6–4 regular season, with a 26–0 victory over and a one-point loss to

South Carolina State South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a me ...

on October 11 in

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 12 ...

. Led by Wild Bill Battles at quarterback, team captain Alex Moore at tackle, Country Reeves at center, and William Green at fullback, the Dragons were invited to play against Bethune–Cookman in the 1947 Flower Bowl in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Florida. Bethune–Cookman was coached by the Bunky Matthews. The high-powered Dragon offense outgained the Bethune–Cookman Wildcats 157 yards to 77, but Lane lost the game. Trailing 6-0, Lane drove 81 yards downfield, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Bethune–Cookman 9-yard line.

1982 team

"Led by head coach, Neal McCall, the 1982 football team earned the school's only Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship (Division III). The Dragons finished the season with a 6-2-1 record including wins over Miles College, Fisk University, Baptist University, and others. Earned a tie with the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff."

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://golcdragons.com/sports/football *