Bucs' Lane, Lemon have close ties to Dez

Bucs' Lane, Lemon have close ties to Cowboys' BryantGreg Auman, Times Staff WriterThursday, November 12, 2015 The Bucs' Jorvorskie Lane and Orie Lemon have surprisingly close ties to Dallas star receiver Dez Bryant, pictured.Getty ImagesWe've written about the large number of Bucs players from east Texas, and with the Cowboys coming to town Sunday, two Bucs players have surprisingly close ties to Dallas star receiver Dez Bryant.Bucs fullback Jorvorskie Lane played high school football with Bryant in Lufkin, Texas, southeast of Dallas, and said Thursday he had the honor of throwing Bryant his first high school touchdown. Two years older than Bryant, he can remember him as a promising young free safety before coaches came to their senses and put him on offense."That's my boy," Lane said. "I remember when we first found out he was Dez Bryant. He was a free safety my senior year and he kept making plays. As an offense, we couldn't throw the ball deep because he was always going to get them. They put him on offense, and I threw his first touchdown. Dez is an unbelievable talent, and we saw it. The rest was history."Bucs linebacker Orie Lemon played with Bryant at Oklahoma State and in Dallas in 2012-13, and the two share a house in the Dallas area, where Lemon calls home in the offseason."That's my best friend," Lemon said of Bryant. "We're both competitive players, so we know we're going to go at it when the ball's out there. It's all fam outside the football field, but when we step inside those white lines, we're all against each other. Big week for me. I've got to make some plays."Lane said he grew up in a family of Cowboys fans, so much so that even though he's on the opposite sideline this week, he still can't get his relatives to root against the Cowboys back home."My grandfather, my neighbors, uncles and aunts, everybody in my family is Cowboys fans," Lane said. "It's a crazy situation for me. Knowing my family, they're not going against their Cowboys. I've heard it all week: 'I can't root for you this week.' It's real big at home."