Upshaw (left), along with Roger Goodell

NFLPA Executive Director and former NFL star Gene Upshaw has passed away, at the age of 63, from pancreatic cancer.

Upshaw played offensive guard with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1967 until 1981. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and an 11-time All-Pro selection. He played in three Super Bowls — winning two — and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Upshaw was the Oakland Raiders’ first-round choice in the first combined AFL-NFL draft in 1967. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound lineman had played center, tackle and end at Texas A&I.

Gene will best be remembered for heading the NFL Player’s Association for a quarter of a century. During his tenure, Upshaw helped player’s gain free agency and billions of dollars in contracts.

Upshaw led the players union through a strike in 1987 and years of anti-trust litigation against the league, including a brief period in which the NFLPA became a professional association rather than a union. The union eventually accepted a salary cap in return for free agency. Union members got a bigger share of league revenues because of the deal.

Players have prospered so much that NFL owners recently opted out of the latest labor contract, which was negotiated two years ago by Upshaw and then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Upshaw is survived by his wife, Terri, and children, Justin, Daniel and Eugene Jr.

[image: WENN]