 Upshaw during his time with theOakland Raiders | |||||||||
| No. 63 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1945-08-15)August 15, 1945 Robstown, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | August 20, 2008(2008-08-20) (aged 63) Lake Tahoe, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Robstown | ||||||||
| College | Texas A&I (1963–1966) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: 1st round, 17th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career AFL/NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Eugene Thurman Upshaw Jr. (August 15, 1945 – August 20, 2008) was an American professionalfootballguard who played for theOakland Raiders of theAmerican Football League (AFL) and later theNational Football League (NFL). He later served as the executive director of theNational Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Upshaw was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and is also the only player in NFL history to reach theSuper Bowl with the same team in three different decades.
Upshaw was born inRobstown, Texas, and graduated fromRobstown High School.[1] He playedcollege football atNAIA program Texas A&I University (now known asTexas A&M University–Kingsville).[2] He was a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity. In 1967 at age 22, Upshaw married Jimmye Lee Hill-Upshaw (née Hill).[3] Together they had one son, Eugene Upshaw III, and later divorced.[3]
After playing football in college at a number of offensive line positions, he settled at left offensiveguard for theOakland Raiders in theAmerican Football League and theNational Football League for 15 years. During that time, he played in threeSuper Bowls; in the 1967, 1976, and 1980 seasons, making him the first player to reach the game in three different decades (Jerry Rice andBill Romanowski would later accomplish the feat in 2002, whileTom Brady later accomplished the feat in 2020). He also played in three AFL Championship Games, sevenAmerican Football Conference title games, oneAFL All-Star game, and six NFL Pro Bowls. He was selected byThe Sporting News to the1969 AFL All League team.
He was part of a particularly strong offensive line during the 1976 season, with interior linematesDave Dalby at center andGeorge Buehler at right guard. In the 1976 AFC championship game of the1976–77 NFL playoffs, the Raiders beat thePittsburgh Steelers, rushing for 157 yards and passing for 88 yards. The Raiders then beat theMinnesota Vikings inSuper Bowl XI, rushing for a whopping 266 yards and passing for 180 yards, as Upshaw overwhelmed the opposing defensive tackle,Alan Page, a Hall-of-Famer. In the 1980 AFC championship game of the1980–81 NFL playoffs, the Raiders beat theSan Diego Chargers, rushing for 138 yards and passing for 261 yards. The Raiders then beat thePhiladelphia Eagles inSuper Bowl XV, rushing for 117 yards and passing for 261 yards again, as Upshaw, Dalby, and right guardMickey Marvin outmatched Eagle nose tackleCharlie Johnson and inside linebackersBill Bergey andFrank LeMaster.
In 1999, he was ranked No. 62 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
He was the older brother ofMarvin Upshaw, who was a defensive lineman with theCleveland Browns,Kansas City Chiefs andSt. Louis Cardinals.
Over the course of his sixteen seasons in the NFL, Upshaw witnessed—and, in many cases, participated in—many iconic NFL games and plays. These include theHeidi Game, theImmaculate Reception,The Sea of Hands Game,Ghost to the Post, theHoly Roller Game, andRed Right 88. He also reached three Super Bowls in three different decades (1967,1976, and1980); in total, Upshaw played in 24 playoff games with the Raiders.
Upshaw was an active member of the bargaining committee for theNational Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. He led the NFLPA in its unsuccessful strike in 1987 and through years ofantitrust litigation against the league, including a brief period in which the NFLPA became a professional association rather than a union, that ended with the union's acceptance of asalary cap in return for free agency and an enhanced share of league revenues for the union's members. Until his death, he was the executive director of the association.
In an infamous 1987 incident during labor negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA,Dallas Cowboys president and general managerTex Schramm told Upshaw, "Gene, here's what you have to understand: we're the ranchers and you're the cattle, and we can always get more cattle."[4][5]
He alienated many retired players after comments he made in response to 325 former AFL and NFL players receiving minimal retirement benefits. When the former players attempted to have the NFL and the NFLPA consider their plight, Upshaw responded: "The bottom line is I don't work for them. They don't hire me and they can't fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote."[6] Upshaw later said he was misquoted and was speaking solely about fellow Hall of FamerJoe DeLamielleure, further saying "A guy like DeLamielleure says the things he said about me; you think I'm going to invite him to dinner? No. I'm going to break his damn neck."[7] While Upshaw's comments were true on the letter of the NFL's benefit rules—the NFLPA is charged with the union rights of active players, and any matters dealing with retirees are subject to negotiations between the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council—they were badly received by both former and current players, fans, and the media. Prior to his death, a campaign was allegedly being led by Ravens kickerMatt Stover to oust Gene Upshaw as head of the NFLPA; however, all parties have denied such a plan. Stover along with a number of other players claim to have only been seeking a definite succession plan in order to avoid a drawn-out and messy transfer of power such as Upshaw's death has seen realized.[8] Tennessee Titans centerKevin Mawae, president of the NFLPA, issued a statement saying that Stover's opinion did not reflect the opinion of the board of player representatives.[9]
Upshaw was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. And in 1996, Upshaw was also inducted into theBay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2004, the NCAA Division II sports information directors awarded the first Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award. It is presented each year during the weekend of the NCAA Division II Football Championship by the Manheim (Pennsylvania) Touchdown Club.
In mid-August 2008 at his home inLake Tahoe,[10] Upshaw began to feel ill. His wife Terri (née Buich) noticed that his breathing was labored, so she convinced him to go to theemergency room, where he was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer on August 17. On August 20, Upshaw died with Terri and his sons Eugene III, Justin, and Daniel by his side, five days after his 63rd birthday.[11] The Cancer Center at the hospital in Truckee, California where he died was named in his memory.[12]
After his death, the NFL announced that all 32 teams would wear a patch on their jerseys with the initials "GU" and the number 63 for the opening weekend of the2008 season.[13] Beginning in the second week of the season, all teams wore the patch as a decal on their backs of their helmets instead of a shoulder patch; while the Raiders continued to wear the shoulder patch throughout the season.
In 2011, his son Eugene Upshaw III filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court regarding how the will was handled at the time of his father's death, stating his father was too ill to be able to understand the document he was signing.[14][15] The case was settled out of court prior to the trial, but the facts of the case created more conflict between retired players and the NFLPA, with several prominent retired players/advocates lashing out at Upshaw and his family for a $15 million payment in his will and citing the large number of disabled and broke veterans who had no resources; however, the reporting also showed that the $15 million was a deferred payment from Upshaw's long tenure as the NFLPA head and the money was taken out of his salary during that time and served as a de facto pension separate from the issues that were causing controversy.[15]
