Lufkin Legend Jorvorskie Lane to Graduate from Texas A&M

Jorvorskie Lane of Lufkin is used to hearing his name over a loudspeaker. He's heard it a lot throughout his career as a standout running back at the high school, college, and pro level.

Friday morning, May 9, 2025, he will hear it again. Even with his great accomplishments of the past, this time it will mean so much more. After leaving Texas A&M in 2008 to pursue a professional football career, Lane will be walking across the stage to receive his college diploma.

Jorvorskie Lane - The Football Years

Jorvorskie Lane ran for nearly 4,000 yards as a Lufkin Panther, and he bulled his way to 2,090 yards and a school-record 49 touchdowns for the Aggies.

Eventually, he’d use his yardage-gaining skills in the NFL, where he played for the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before a serious injury ended his career.

Earlier this week, Lane completed his last final exam: A Math for Business class at Angelina College (Lane’s third class at AC), with AC instructor George Reed accommodating Lane’s upcoming graduation schedule.

Jorvorskie Lane - Early Learning Struggles

The 'Lane Train' is used to bulling his way through defenders, but his early learning struggles are well-documented. He’s even become a face for the Read 180 program, to which he was introduced at Lufkin High School through teacher Betty Lewing. Lane remembers the early days of trying to overcome his learning issues.

“Man, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately,” Lane said. “I go back to the second grade when I was told I had a learning disability. I had no clue about any of it. I didn’t understand what dyslexia was. I just thought I wasn’t very smart.”

However, Lane says, he ran into a gauntlet of teachers who saw so much more than his test results offered. He encountered numerous educators who saw through the fog of what others deemed a disability. He mentions Mrs. Handy at Garrett Elementary. Cindy Nerren at Brandon Elementary. Cathy Friesen. Mrs. Buchanan, his 7th-grade science teacher.

READ MORE: Hudson Native, Krista Brown, Promoted at Angelina College

As for his teachers, including his instructors at Angelina College, Lane has nothing but praise and admiration.

“There were so many, and I don’t even remember all their first names,” Lane laughs. “When you’re a student, you don’t even realize teachers actually have first names.”

Those teachers, Lane says, saw him as more than an athlete.

“They saw my desires, and they saw some intelligence in me that others didn’t see,” Lane says. “They saw my potential as a student. They were the ones who put the ‘student’ before the ‘athlete.’ I was drawn to that, and they made me want to make them proud.”

Like so many other youngsters, Lane thought the ultimate goal was professional football. Make it there, he thought, and you’re set for life. It took a massive injury to force him to confront reality.

Jorvorskie Lane - The College Graduate

“But I suffered an injury that ended everything for me. I had to start looking at life after football. I knew I couldn’t do those physical things anymore. I knew I could have gone into the oil field, and I could have done some more work in hard labor, but God didn’t have that in my plans. I was forced to go back and finish my degree. Most young athletes seem to put all their eggs in one basket as far as their futures go, and it showed me it’s not the way to handle your own life.”

So he kept grinding, class after class, the same way he’d ground out yard after yard. In the summer of 2024, he says, he waited just a little too long to register for his last set of classes at A&M. His then-girlfriend Ana Terrazas works as a Specialist in Angelina College’s Human Resources Division. She reached out to some of her colleagues for help.

“Ana reached out to Casey Gerard (AC’s Assistant Director of Admissions and Recruitment), and Mrs. Gerard was all over it,” Lane laughs. “The next morning, I was sitting in front of Remona Boodoo Frye (Student Services), and she helped me register for the classes I needed.

Lane would finish his degree requirements by taking three classes on the Angelina College campus and three on-line courses with Texas A&M University. On Friday, he’ll receive his degree in Agriculture and Life Sciences.

As if the past week couldn’t get any better, Lane proposed to Ana on Monday. She’s no longer his girlfriend. She’s now his fiancée.