The Great Gene Upshaw, 1945-2008

Sudden, shocking and sad news today for the Raider Nation.  The Great Gene Upshaw, an anchor of the great Raiders teams of the 70's and early 80's died today in Lake Tahoe, CA as a result of pancreatic cancer.  He was 63 and survived by his wife and three sons.  

Gene Upshaw had two legendary careers in the NFL; the first as one of the fearsome offensive guards in the NFL, the second as the executive director of the NFL Players Association.

As a player, he was one of the all time greats at his position, a point validated by his first ballot selection to the NFL Hall of Fame.  If you need more evidence of the greatness of Gene Upshaw take into account that he played in 7 Pro Bowls, he was an 11 time All Pro selection, selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and a 2 time Super Bowl champion.  He demanded the best from his teammates in the same way that Michael Jordan did with those Bulls teams.  The 1980 Raiders team that Upshaw led was not even expected to make the playoffs, lost the starting QB to injury early in the season and Upshaw rallied his team to an impressive 7 game win streak and a Super Bowl Championship.  

Imagine being a defensive end or outside linebacker and seeing Gene Upshaw pulling for an off tackle running play and coming right at you.  You knew when you got hit by Gene Upshaw that it was going to leave a mark.

Dr. Z on SI.com had a great story about how Upshaw was almost not even drafted by the Raiders.  Ron Wolf, who later built the great Green Bay-Brett Favre teams, wanted to pick another guy and argued passionately with Al Davis over the pick.  Al Davis gave in and Wolf left the draft room only to hear over the radio that the Raiders had picked Gene Upshaw.

While Bryant Gumbel famously made some flip derisive remarks about Gene Upshaw's tenure at the NFL Players Association, a look at the total record tells an impressive story.  24 years ago when Gene Upshaw took over the Raiders, players became free agents when their teams no longer wanted them.  Under Upshaw's leadership, the relationship between the NFL owners and players became a true partnership with revenue sharing and free agency.  Draft picks are being lavished with multi-million dollar contracts straight out of college.  Prior to Upshaw's leadership, many of the players had to take jobs selling cars or insurance during the off-season to make ends meet.  Most importantly, we as fans have had the benefit of football uninterrupted by the labor conflicts that have roiled Baseball, Basketball and Hockey. 

Gene Upshaw was transformational as a player and as the head of the union and perhaps was more impactful on his sport than any individual in modern history.   

SnB Attack extends it's sympathies to the Upshaw family and friends.

Jim Plunkett pays tribute on ESPN...