Remembering Gene Upshaw

Derek Lofland from Fantasy Football Maniaxs

The NFL has lost one of its greatest players, and labor leader, in Gene Upshaw. He died of cancer at the age of 63.

Gene Upshaw got his start in the NFL as a guard for the Oakland Raiders. He was first or second All Pro 11-times, two-time Super Bowl Champion, member of the NFL’s 1970’s All-Decade Team, and a member of the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

He started 207 consecutive games and played 307 total games. Gene Upshaw and Art Shell teamed to form one of the most dominant lines in NFL history. Upshaw was the only player in Pro Football history to play in three Super Bowls with the same team in three different decades.

He also led an incredible life after football. He served as the Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association from 1983 to 2008. That was a major accomplishment in terms of civil rights for a black person to hold a position of that stature.

He was largely responsible for bringing the players free agency. Player’s salaries skyrocketed in his tenure.

Upshaw did not serve without controversy. Many players felt he was too friendly with NFL owners and management. The NFL is the only major, American, sports league without guaranteed contracts. He also received a lot of criticism for how the league treated former players in terms of benefits and disability.

Regardless of your opinion of his work, it is rare that a player of his stature goes on to have an even more famous career after pro football. He is one of the most influential people in the history of the NFL, and his death was an unexpected tragedy.

He was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Aug. 17, 2008. He died just three days later.