Fred Lane ( American football ) Fred Brown Lane , Jr . ( September 6 , 1975 – July 6 , 2000 ) was an American football running back in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers . Early life . Lane was born and raised in Franklin , Tennessee . His father , Fred Lane , Sr . , was a star at the old Natchez High School ( which later desegregated with Franklin High ) . Attending Franklin Junior High School , it was noticed that Lane possessed uncommon speed and agility for such a young player . Lane attended Franklin High School , amassing over 1 , 000 yards his senior year , while averaging 7 . 5 yards per carry . His number , 28 , is retired by the school . College career . Lane attended Lane College in Jackson , Tennessee . He finished his career with 3 , 612 rushing yards , establishing himself as the school ' s All Time Leading Rusher . As of 2012 , Lane still held the school records for Rushing yards in a Career , Season ( 1 , 853 in 1995 ) and Game ( 305 versus Miles College ) , as well as rushing attempts and Per carry average . As a junior in 1995 , Lane finished the season on the Harlon Hill Trophy watchlist , the NCAA Division II Player of the Year award . In the same year , Lane was named to the Heritage Radio HBCU All American team , as well as several other media services ' All American teams . Lane ' s college number , # 6 , was retired by Lane College . Pro career . Lane was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Panthers before the 1997 NFL season . He set a then - team record that year with a 147 rushing yard performance . During his three years with the Panthers , he accumulated 2 , 001 rushing yards ( the most in franchise history at the time ) and 13 touchdowns . In 1998 , Lane was late for the team ' s charter plane to Dallas , and was benched as punishment . Later that season , he celebrated a touchdown by grabbing his crotch . The gesture was not seen on national television , but was captured by WBTV in Charlotte . When the Panthers saw it , they benched Lane for the next week ' s game . Lane also embarrassed himself and the Panthers by putting on another elaborate celebration of a touchdown — in a game where the New York Jets defeated Carolina 52 - 24 . In April 2000 , his wife Deidra Lane filed a complaint against him for domestic violence . Shortly thereafter , he was traded to the Indianapolis Colts , where he was set to back up Edgerrin James . Death . On July 5 , 2000 , Lane made a phone call to his father telling him that he wanted to sell his motorcycle because he needed the cash . On July 6 , 2000 , he was shot and killed by his wife Deidra during an alleged domestic dispute . Law enforcement investigators believe Deidra Lane shot her husband moments after he arrived at their Mecklenburg home for the $ 5 million in life insurance he carried . Deidra pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter . She claimed that Fred emotionally and physically abused her ; however , the judge ruled that the shooting was premeditated and that she deliberately shot Fred twice , even though the first shot rendered him helpless . The judge determined that those factors outweighed the alleged abuse and gave her eight years in prison , the maximum sentence allowed . She served her sentence at Raleigh Correctional Center for Women . She was released on March 3 , 2009 .