NFL family mourns loss of Gene Upshaw

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 8/28/2008

    Gene Upshaw passed away last week at age 63 after losing his sudden battle with pancreatic cancer. Upshaw was a major player on and off the field; his Hall of Fame career of 15 years with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, seven times All-Pro and twice a Super Bowl champion, was powerful.

 I have never met anyone with a greater impact on the growth of his sport than Upshaw. When I started my career covering sports 30 years ago this fall, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) was an absolute joke. Upshaw changed that.

 The NFL owners figuratively had the players by the balls; it was their game, and they took advantage of the players. They were selfish, and Upshaw, through sheer force and will, changed the owners’ position.

 NFL football is a major force in our society, far and away the most popular game today. It generates billions in revenues, and the growth of the game has gone through remarkable change.  

Because of Upshaw and the NFLPA, of which he was the executive director for 25 years, the players today get 60 percent of all defined gross revenues generated by the game.

 “Gene was a special guy,” said Dan Rooney, legendary owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of five Super Bowls. “He really had the game at heart. That was the major thing — he really believed in the game. He played, he coached, and he did everything else, and it was an important thing the way he did things.

 “He always felt that way when we were negotiating,” Rooney continued, “and he became a great friend of mine. We spent a lot of time together, both good and bad, and I really felt bad hearing about his passing. It was a tough time for me, really.”

 From the presentation on national TV to community involvement of the players and owners, make no mistake about it — Upshaw was vital to the game’s growth. He never played poker with the owners. He let them know that without the players there is no game. When Upshaw battled the owners in boardrooms and the courts across this nation, he put the same fear in the owners that as a player he put in linemen on the opposite team.

 The shield of the NFL is in the clouds today. Upshaw was one of the toughest and most criticized people I’ve ever met. He had to make players understand that bringing about change required sacrifice. In 1982, that meant a players’ strike; in 1987, that meant the owners had to go get scab players off the street to try and bust the unified front of the striking players’ union that Upshaw was leading.

 Upshaw did it all. If you did not get it, he knew you eventually would, because he was not giving in. His decision to decertify the NFLPA after 1987 was brilliant. The media and fans called him the worst of names, but Upshaw was as tough as nails.

 He was as smart as he was tough, and he had no problem letting you believe whatever you wanted to believe, but he always reminded you to do your homework. When you bring about change and growth and affect the bottom lines of 32 NFL billionaires and literally force them to respect the position that you have taken, you are a icon.

 “The man was a professional sports icon,” said Mike Tomlin, head football coach of the Steelers. “His scope of influence goes beyond the NFL. It’s about professional sports. His contributions are countless. His memory will live on, and I think that he has as much to do with the success of this league as many people. It’s going to be a sad loss for us.”

 My son Larry, with the Arizona Cardinals, is the only player in the rich history of the NFL to get into the league after only two years of college football at the University of Pittsburgh. I will never forget when Upshaw called me and told me he supported our petition to enter the NFL early.

 Upshaw is the only NFL player to win championships in both the AFL and NFL. He was tough. He literally tried to flatten you.

 Thanks, Gene. The game will always owe you.

 Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:25 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.