The reporters came in waves, wanting to find out any tidbit they could on the guy Carolina Panthers coach Dom Capers playfully referred to in training camp as Fred Lane from Lane.
The rookie free agent from the tiny Division II college in Tennessee is no longer a laughing matter after Sunday's franchise record 147-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance in a 38-14 victory over Oakland."Where did Walter Payton come from?" Panthers center Frank Garcia snapped at a reporter who asked about Lane College in Jackson, Tenn. "Where Fred Lane came from doesn't really matter to me; he's a player. He may have gotten overlooked, but the guy is a player."
For the record, Payton, the NFL's career rushing leader, played his college ball at Jackson State.
Lane is far from being in Payton's class, but the 205-pounder flashed some of Payton's famous trademark runs, breaking tackle after tackle on his TD runs of 15, 18 and 32 yards.
The Panthers (5-4), winners of three straight, had managed only three rushing TDs in their first eight games but got four in the first half against the NFL's worst defense.
Lane broke three tackles on his 15-yard scoring run on Carolina's opening drive, then rambled through five more Raiders en route to his second scoring run two seconds before the end of the first quarter.
Lane upstaged Raiders back Napoleon Kaufman, who came into the game as the NFL's third-leading rusher with 896 yards. Kaufman was held to 16 yards on 10 carries, getting the ball only twice in the second half as Oakland (3-6) was forced to play catchup through the air.
Oakland has given up 83 points in its last two games and at least 24 points in seven games.
Buccaneers 31, Colts 28
Karl Williams scored two touchdowns, set up another TD with a 63-yard punt return and put Tampa Bay (6-3) in position for Michael Husted's winning field goal with eight seconds left at Indianapolis.
The Colts, the NFL's only winless team, took a 28-21 lead behind third-string quarterback Kelly Holcomb after Paul Justin joined Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines with an injury. But Trent Dilfer's 24-yard TD pass to Williams tied it.
Packers 20, Lions 10
Green Bay intercepted four of Scott Mitchell's passes to pull the Packers into a tie with Minnesota for first place in the NFC Central.
Darren Sharper's 50-yard interception return for a touchdown gave the Packers (7-2) the lead for good in the second quarter, and they held on to win despite Barry Sanders' 105 yards on 23 carries, his seventh straight 100-yard game.
The Packers avoided getting swept by Detroit (4-5) for the first time since 1991 while also running their home winning streak to 23.
Vikings 23, Patriots 18
Minnesota's fifth straight victory kept the Vikings even with Green Bay, while New England stumbled to its fourth loss in five games after a 4-0 start.
Moe Williams' 74-yard return of the opening kickoff set up a field goal, and Minnesota never trailed. John Randle led the Vikings' defense, which allowed the Patriots only three points in three quarters and harassed Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe.
Robert Green's recovery of Cris Carter's fumble at the New England 1 set up a touchdown run by Williams. Brad Johnson's 28-yard TD pass to Carter with 2:39 remaining clinched the game.
Broncos 30, Seahawks 27
John Elway, 37, held off Warren Moon, 40, in a battle of two of the NFL's venerable quarterbacks at Mile High Stadium.
Elway, who threw two touchdown passes to Moon's three, completed a 49-yard pass to Shannon Sharpe to set up Jason Elam's 22-yard field goal with 7:28 left, which won it for the Broncos (8-1). That came after Moon's 8-yard TD pass to Brian Blades tied it at 27 for Seattle (5-4).
Elway accounted for 276 total yards for 50,273 in his career, becoming the third player in NFL history - after Dan Marino and Fran Tarkenton - to reach the 50,000-yard plateau.
With 252 yards passing, Elway also moved past Tarkenton into second place in career passing yardage with 47,019, trailing only Marino.
Bengals 38, Chargers 31
Cincinnati (2-7) snapped a seven-game losing streak, converting three second-quarter turnovers into touchdowns, including John Copeland's 25-yard fumble return.
San Diego stayed in the game thanks to Eric Metcalf, who returned two punts for touchdowns. The eight punt return TDs tied an NFL record, and his 10 kick returns for touchdowns is an overall record.
Bills 9, Dolphins 6
Steve Christie kicked three field goals for Buffalo, which had one turnover in terrible conditions at Rich Stadium despite six fumbles and a muffed punt.
The final field goal, a 39-yarder, came with 10:42 left and broke a 6-6 tie.
Dan Marino sprained his left ankle and left in the third quarter after going just 5-of-15 for 76 yards and throwing an interception.
Cardinals 31, Eagles 21
Kent Graham, the starting quarterback until he got hurt Oct. 12, replaced Jake Plummer and had two late touchdown runs as the Cardinals (2-7) broke a six-game losing streak.
Ty Detmer relieved Rodney Peete in the third quarter and threw two TD passes to erase a 17-7 deficit for the Eagles, (4-5), who are 4-0 at home, 0-5 on the road.
Jaguars 30, Oilers 24
Jacksonville (6-3) almost blew a 27-10 lead, but Tony Brackens stopped Frank Wycheck on fourth-and-2 with 2:58 left to save the win.
The Oilers (4-5) gradually closed within six points, and Steve McNair moved Tennessee 84 yards to first-and-goal on the seven. But Brackens' tackle on a pass from McNair ended Tennessee's three-game winning streak.
Redskins 31, Bears 8
Washington (5-4) scored on its first three possessions, going 76, 55 and 80 yards for touchdowns against Chicago (1-8).
Terry Allen, who missed the previous two games with a sprained knee, finished with 125 yards on 20 carries.
Falcons 34, Rams 31
Morten Andersen's 27-yard field goal with two seconds left gave Atlanta (2-7) its win.
Isaac Bruce had 233 receiving yards for the visiting Rams (2-7), who tied the score at 31 on Tony Banks' 1-yard scramble with 1:10 left. But Harold Green caught a 19-yard pass, then ran 22 yards to help set up Andersen's winning kick.