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		Ex-Raider, Union leader there will never be another like Upshaw By David Zizmor August 21, 2008

	Let's start first and foremost when you look back on the life of ex-Raider and NFLPA president Gene Upshaw's life in pro football. In his days as a player, everyone knows him right now as head of the players union because he's been in that role for over 20 years one of the longest tenured union leaders in all of pro sports. During Upshaw' time as a union leader he's made great strides for the players. People forget that this guy was a player and not just any player but Upshaw was a Hall of Famer. He was one of the greatest offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s. In fact some people think Upshaw is one of the top guys ever but maybe not quiet as good as Art Shell was but almost at that level. This is a guy who was an NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman one of the all time greats as a player. Because Upshaw was so great on the field a lot of people felt confident in his ability to represent the interests of the players off the field as head of the players union. This is a guy who experienced all of the things that every other guy he's representing experienced. Upshaw was not like MLBPA representative Donald Fehr, Fehr was not a player. Gene Upshaw was a player in fact a great player and that experience as a player informed him as head of the union. He was able to understand better what the players were going through. Let's not forget this whole controversy about the older players not getting compensated, Gene Upshaw was one of those guys. He played with the people that were complaining and he might have got a bit of a bum rap. The Union had done a lot and having looked at how the NFL Players Union works and how the Collective Bargaining Agreement works with the Players Association and the NFL. The older players do get quite a bit of money and they get a lot more money than they did from back in the day when they were playing. Upshaw had taken steps to improve it. At the same time some of the older players feel they didn't get enough money and felt that the union didn't take enough steps to fix their particular problem. But Upshaw saw the players union in the NFL turn into one of the most powerful groups in all of sports with the amount of money that players make now versus when Upshaw started it as head of the players association back in the early 80s is mind boggling. The average player's salary is multiple times more than what it was back then. Players are making millions upon millions of dollars where they were making tens of thousands for the most part back in the 70s and 80s. The NFL's expansion is due in large part because of Upshaw and his ability to work with the league and at the same time against it. Upshaw was part of the group that decided to decertify the NFLPA back in the late 80s which lead to free agency and went to greater player rights, which really led to the current system we have today. It was considered an incredibly risky move but it was one that players associations all over sports nowadays threatens whenever something gets really critical in negotiations when something is going really, really bad for them. That threat of decertification is a straw that nobody thought people would use in such a situation but when Upshaw and the rest of the players union did it successfully it really changed the face of how negotiations between the teams and players progressed. Upshaw made a huge difference off the field just as much as he did on the field. Upshaw was a more important figure for the NFL just because of how much he helped the players gain in money and in benefits and in health benefits in particular. Upshaw is a key figure in the NFL and he will be missed. David Zizmor covers 49ers football each week on Sportstalk Radio.