Upshaw dies at 63

Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame guard for the Oakland Raiders died late Wednesday night at 63 of pancreatic cancer.

Though he looked gaunt at appearances this summer, carrying much less weight on his 6-foot-5 frame, both Upshaw and those who knew him best in football denied that the NFL Players Association executive director was sick. The NFLPA’s Web site said he didn’t learn he had the disease until three days before his death.

Upshaw held the NFLPA together through decertification and the 1987 strike and wound up negotiating a collective bargaining agreement in 1993 that granted players unrestricted free agency after four seasons.

Although Upshaw endured criticism for his close relationship with former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue during most of his 25 years in charge of the NFLPA, the average player salary grew from $485,000 in 1992 to $1.4 million last year.

“From where the union started to where it is today is leaps and bounds,” said Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, a member of the NFLPA’s 10-man executive board. “A lot of that credit has to go with Gene and what he stood for. He stood his ground on a lot of key issues. … He’s left us in a very good position.”

Even those on the opposite side of the table admired the job Upshaw did.

“Gene represented the players the way I would want to be represented: with understanding, integrity and a steadfast commitment to doing what was right for them and what was best for the game,” New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

The recent movement by a majority of the board to find Upshaw’s successor now takes on major urgency with the NFL owners having opted out of the CBA this spring and an uncapped year approaching in 2010. Upshaw vowed that if the salary cap ever disappeared, it would never return.

Despite that tumult and the ongoing benefits battle with the retired players, Upshaw’s legacy likely will be remembered as a success.

“Few people in the history of the National Football League have played the game as well as Gene and then had another career in football with so much positive impact on the structure and competitiveness of the entire league,” Tagliabue said. “In both careers, if you hit him in the head, he could hit you back twice as hard - but he didn’t always do so. He was very tough but also a good listener. He never lost sight of the interests of the game and the big picture.”

Upshaw, a union leader during the 1974 summer labor stoppage, retired not long before the 1982 strike that canceled nearly half that season. Upshaw succeeded Ed Garvey as head of the NFLPA in 1983.

After the ugly 1987 strike during which the owners fielded teams of replacement players, Upshaw worked with Tagliabue, who replaced Pete Rozelle in 1989, to forge a labor peace that has lasted more than two decades.

Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn, who played against Upshaw for five years in the AFC West, praised his him for establishing that working relationship with Park Avenue and with so many NFL owners.

“We didn’t like each other when we played against each other,” said Zorn, who quarterbacked for the Seattle Seahawks from 1976 to 1984. “But he was a tremendous athlete, a tremendous leader. The amount of history that he was involved changing in the NFL was dramatic to say the least.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell described Upshaw’s death as “a sad day” for the league and added, “Gene’s positive impact and legacy will live on for decades to come. His leadership played a crucial role in taking the NFL and its players to new heights. Gene did everything with great dignity, pride, and conviction.”

Oakland’s first-round draft choice out of Texas A&I in 1967, Upshaw wasted no time proving his worth as a player. The Raiders reached their first Super Bowl with the rookie starting. Nearly a decade later, Upshaw’s Raiders returned to the Super Bowl in 1977, beating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14. They went again four years later, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Oakland made the playoffs 10 times during Upshaw’s career and didn’t have a losing record until his final season. Upshaw started 207 consecutive games and was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, his first year of eligibility.