MacArthur Lane (March 16, 1942 – May 4, 2019) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for eleven seasons, from 1968 to 1978 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. Born and raised in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, Lane was named after United States Army General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

. Lane graduated from its Fremont High School, where he was all-city in football honors. He worked for several years in a machine shop, then played his first season of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Merritt College Merritt College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Merritt, like the other three campuses of the Peralta Community College District, is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The college e ...

and transferred to

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

in 1965. Known as "Truck" in

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

, Lane was a linebacker as a sophomore and moved to running back as a junior, and averaged 6.9 yards per carry for his final two seasons. Lane was the 13th overall selection of the

1968 NFL/AFL Draft The 1968 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968. The Minn ...

, taken by the

. He was a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection in when he led the NFL in rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s with Despite personal statistical success with the Cardinals, Lane’s time was marred by tension with head coaches

Charley Winner Charley Winner (born July 2, 1924) is a former American football player and coach. Winner was born in Somerville, New Jersey and, during World War II, flew seventeen missions in a B-17 Flying Fortress plane, spending six weeks in a German prison ...

and later

Bob Hollway Robert Hollway (January 29, 1926 – March 13, 1999) was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the University of Michigan and was a member of Michigan's undefeated 1947 and 1948 teams. He thereafter served as an ...

as well as team owner

Bill Bidwill William Vogel Bidwill (July 31, 1931 – October 2, 2019) was an American businessman and the owner of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He had co-owned the team from 1962 for ten seasons with his brother Charles Jr. ...

, mostly over disagreements regarding Lane’s value. After four seasons in St. Louis, Lane was traded to Green Bay in February 1972 for Teamed in the backfield with

John Brockington John Stanley Brockington (born September 7, 1948) is a former American football player, a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. He was a first round draft choice out of Ohio State Un ...

, the Packers won the division and returned to the playoffs for the first time since

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. Under new head coach

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Alab ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Lane was traded to Kansas City in July for a future draft pick. He played his final four seasons with the Chiefs, and during the 1976 season, Lane led the NFL in receptions with 66. He recorded 144 yards rushing on October 1, 1978 in a 13-28 loss to 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. ...

at age 36 years 199 days, a record that still stands for the oldest player with 100+ yards rushing in an NFL game. Lane was inducted in the Utah State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. He died on May 4, 2019, aged 77. Upon his death, lifelong friend

Raymond Chester Raymond Tucker Chester (born June 28, 1948) is a former American Football tight end. After graduating from Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Chester played college football at the historically Black University, Morgan State. He was a ...

said “Mac was one of those guys that everybody loved. He was smart as a whip, kindhearted and generous. As an athlete, he had to be one of the top ten greatest high school athletes ever in the Bay Area.”

References

External links

* 1942 births 2019 deaths Players of American football from Oakland, California American football running backs Utah State Aggies football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Green Bay Packers players Kansas City Chiefs players National Conference Pro Bowl players {{runningback-1940s-stub