Gene Upshaw

By The Week Staff

last updated 8 January 2015

The union leader who helped make NFL players rich

Gene Upshaw

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When Gene Upshaw became head of the National Football League’s Players Association in 1983, it was nearly broke and reeling from a failed strike the year before. But Upshaw, who died last week of pancreatic cancer, became an effective champion of free agency and helped boost the average salary of NFL players from $90,000 a year to $1.75 million. His approach, he once said, was actually quite simple: “I try to negotiate for what the majority of my members want.”

Before he became the first African-American to head a major sports union, said The Philadelphia Inquirer, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Upshaw was “perhaps the greatest left guard to ever play the game.” In 1967, after playing for the Texas College of Arts and Industries, he was a first-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders. Over 15 seasons he played in 207 consecutive regular and post-season games, six Pro Bowls, and three Super Bowls, winning two. “He became known for the rolls of tape he wrapped around his arms, from his wrists up over his elbows, which transformed his arms into clubs” and earned him the nickname “the Mummy.” Upshaw was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987, the first year he was eligible.

Even as he excelled on the field, said the Los Angeles Times, Upshaw found himself drawn to union politics. He resented that his original Raiders no-cut contract was never renewed after the American Football League merged with the NFL, in 1969. His activism was further fueled when he heard Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm say to players, “You guys are cattle, and we’re the ranchers. And ranchers can always get more cattle.” Upshaw, who had grown up picking cotton in Robstown, Texas, soon became a players’ representative and, after serving as a board member of the Players Association, was unanimously elected executive director.

His advocacy was relentless, said USA Today. Exhorting his members with cries of “We are the game!” he tirelessly pushed for better salaries and benefits. In 1987, Upshaw led the players in a 15-day strike; team owners responded by bringing in replacements to play what was mockingly called “scab football.” He then guided the union “through a series of maneuvers that accomplished in court what could not be gained on the picket line.” Upshaw’s efforts culminated in 1993 with a seven-year contract that gave players the right to free agency—meaning they were free to sign with other teams—in exchange for a salary cap. In 2006, Upshaw presided over a new collective bargaining agreement that gave his 2,000 members 60 percent of league revenues, or about $4.5 billion this year.

Upshaw, who was known as “the Governor” for his leadership skills, had his detractors, said The Washington Post. His imperiousness could rankle, and this spring some players made an abortive attempt to oust him. Many retired players complained that he didn’t care sufficiently about their shoddy pensions and skyrocketing insurance costs. When one of them, retired Buffalo Bills guard Joe DeLamielleure, upbraided Upshaw once too often, Upshaw snapped, “I’d like to break his neck.” Many “accused him of being too cozy with management.” But Upshaw dismissed the criticisms. “I don’t think I’ve done too badly for my members,” he said. Upshaw is survived by his wife and three sons.