MacArthur Lane obit

Former Pro Bowl running back MacArthur Lane dies at 77

 

He was not on the list.

MacArthur Lane, a running back whose NFL career spanned 11 seasons, has died at the age of 77.

Lane died on Saturday in Oakland, where he was born and raised, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

After playing both linebacker and running back at Utah State, Lane was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 13th overall pick in the 1968 draft. His best NFL season came in 1970, when he led the league with 11 rushing touchdowns and was chosen to the Pro Bowl.

In 1972 Lane was traded to the Packers, and he played three seasons in Green Bay before he was traded to Kansas City, playing his final four seasons with the Chiefs. In Kansas City in 1976, he led the NFL with 66 catches.

Teammates called him “Mac the Truck” because he liked to run over tacklers rather than around him. That he lasted 11 NFL seasons came as a surprise to Lane himself, who told Sports Illustrated during his third season that he didn’t think his body could withstand that many years.

“I figure a running back has maybe three, 3½ years to do his number,” Lane said. “Where else do you have so much contact on every play? I’m not complaining. I love to hit, and so does any good back. But if you’re not running into The Pit, you’re blocking on those great big linemen, or else you’re catching a pass right out there where the linebackers have a bite at you. Here’s the thing: anyone who hits you is moving when he hits you—moving fast. And you’re moving fast yourself. I’d like to see some computer figure out what position takes the most foot-pounds of energy on impact per play. Gotta be the set-back.”

Lane always considered himself lucky to make a living playing football, explaining that he and his wife took in her two step-siblings because his football income allowed him to provide for a big family.

“If you can afford it, you gotta help out,” he said in 1970. “I earn $30,000 a year—having asked, of course, for $50,000—and the kids are first-rate. . . . Look at my old man—how many years has he been working at tough jobs, construction, making it for a batch of kids? When the hurts catch up with me, I’ve already got a plan.”

In retirement, Lane managed a rental property he owned and did volunteer work. He is survived by his wife and two daughters 

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Lane was named after United States Army General Douglas MacArthur. 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 at Merritt College and transferred to Utah State University in 1965. Known as "Truck" in Logan, 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, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1970 when he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with eleven. Despite personal statistical success with the Cardinals, Lane’s time was marred by tension with head coaches Charley Winner and later Bob Hollway as well as team owner Bill Bidwill, mostly over disagreements regarding Lane’s value. Playing the 1971 season without signing a contract, he commented that the then-rotund Bidwill had "all his money in his stomach" and was suspended by the team.

After four seasons in St. Louis, Lane was traded to Green Bay in February 1972 for Donny Anderson. Teamed in the backfield with John Brockington, the Packers won the division and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1967. Under new head coach Bart Starr in 1975, 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 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 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.”