Anyone who has any interest in the NFL must know what Gene Upshaw meant to the game. On September 2nd I attended a memorial service held for Gene Upshaw at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. I had already planned a trip to DC over one of our breaks prior to the unfortunate passing of Mr. Upshaw. Mr. Upshaw was a board member at The Potomac School, where I was the Assistant Controller before attending the SDSU Sports MBA program.
Mr. Upshaw did a tremendous amount for the NFL both as a player and an executive. He was a Hall of Fame guard who played for the Raiders from 1967 – 1981. Then after being a player he entered the executive ranks as the NFLPA’s Executive Director for the past 25 years. Among the several things he did for both the NFL and football as a sport three or four things stuck in my mind from research regarding his Executive Director career.
In 1987 Upshaw began the fight for NFL free agency, which was years after MLB had won free agency in the mid 70’s. In constructing the ‘93 CBA he risked a lot and was able to get NFL players free agency. Recently, he was also able to guarantee the players 60% of the total league revenue. Currently, the NFL has the longest streak of labor peace in the four major American professional sports (NBA, MLB, and NHL). Though the owners did opt out of the current CBA, there is still time for them to negotiate since it won’t expire until the end of the 2010 season.
One area Mr. Upshaw was criticized with was the retirement benefits for players no longer in the league. There are several players out there who did sacrifice their bodies for the game, but I think some other professional sports have had issues with their retirement plans. I also think Mr. Upshaw did not get the press exposure he should have when he explained some of the reasoning. This is a Gene Upshaw quote from an article by Mike Sando at ESPN.com earlier this year (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087):
"Everyone can talk about all of the money we have in the pension plan. We have as much liability as we have assets; in fact, we are a little underfunded.
"But we are not going to take a pension from guys that have one coming and give it to someone else. We have to solve it a different way and we will."
From the quote it should be pretty clear that if they take from the current players they’ll be even more underfunded with the current liability exposure. I even recall last fall reading an article about some type of increase to the retirement benefits, but it didn’t make much press at all.
A thought I had is that Mr. Upshaw may have been thinking of conceding a % or two of the revenue sharing to be reapplied to the pension for all current and past players. Not sure how much that would be exactly but to pay the premium for disability benefits or dump into the pension probably would help. It would even make sense for the owners to share in matching the same % to the pension or benefits.
As I mentioned when I was in DC earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend Mr. Upshaw’s service at The Kennedy Center. A former co-worker of mine at Potomac currently works at The Kennedy Center and I spoke with several other former co-workers I saw at Mr. Upshaw’s Memorial which was an amazing event.
The music was amazing at the service and you could feel the emotion in the room before it started. When the service started Mr. Upshaw’s brother spoke and mentioned the significance of the number 63. In 1963 Gene Upshaw graduated high school, he wore #63 during his career in the pros, and he passed away at the age of 63. Some of you probably noticed the GU – 63
symbol that was on the fields & jerseys opening week of the NFL and is currently on the back of the player’s helmets. His brother also mentioned the things that were important to him like his sons, family, car and life. This was the first of many insights to Gene Upshaw the human being. He was a very amazing person and touched a lot of lives, but didn’t desire anything in return.
A couple of Mr. Upshaw’s sons spoke at the service along with several NFL figures. Each person gave insight into Upshaw as a person. Some talked about his passion for golf, costco, and public storage. A couple speakers mentioned him being late or fixing door knobs if someone’s office door was loose, all of which made him down to earth like everyone else.
Where he differed was in his desire to fight for what was right. He had a big heart and cared about others which made him a good Executive Director to fight on the players behalf. He also fought for others in his personal life outside of football. Another thing speakers mentioned was that he never complained. He just kept going and continued his hard work, which we all can learn from.
John Madden, who coached Upshaw on the Raiders, mentioned how Upshaw was the type of player a coach would occasionally seek out for guidance because of his leadership. At the end of Mr. Madden’s speech he was very emotional and you could tell how much he cared about his lost friend.
Tom Condon, SBJ’s #1 Most Influential Sports Agent, spoke about Upshaw who was one of his best friends and clients. Mr. Condon was funny, a great speaker, and also told of his admiration for Upshaw as a player before they met. A couple of the speakers mentioned that Mr. Upshaw’s wife had wanted them to keep their stories funny and concise. When Mr. Condon was in college he tried to imitate Upshaw’s (who was in the pros) elbow & arm pads only to have his coach make fun of him for even trying to compare himself to the professional.
Overall the speakers all spoke with great emotion, friendship, and complete respect for Upshaw. It was very unfortunate that Mr. Upshaw passed away, but he was able to touch & influence so many lives. He worked hard for everything he achieved, but also was human and cared about people.
Here are a few Upshaw articles I recommend reading that also served as some of my sources in addition to the several people I spoke to inside football and fans that followed his playing & executive careers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/sports/football/22upshaw.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
· Gene Upshaw, N.F.L. Union Chief, Dies at 63
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=3549586
· When Upshaw spoke, everyone -- including owners – listened
http://sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60060
· New NFL season opens, labor talks loom without key player
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087
· Upshaw: NFLPA won't take from current pensions to help ex-players
http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=6853F2F7363BC0FADBCA0D0848E3DEB9?id=09000d5d80a72310&template=with-video&confirm=true
· Tears, laughter at Gene Upshaw memorial service
If there are any mistakes I’ve made please let me know as I’m always open to correcting my mistakes.
Ben Seiz
Mr. Upshaw did a tremendous amount for the NFL both as a player and an executive. He was a Hall of Fame guard who played for the Raiders from 1967 – 1981. Then after being a player he entered the executive ranks as the NFLPA’s Executive Director for the past 25 years. Among the several things he did for both the NFL and football as a sport three or four things stuck in my mind from research regarding his Executive Director career.
In 1987 Upshaw began the fight for NFL free agency, which was years after MLB had won free agency in the mid 70’s. In constructing the ‘93 CBA he risked a lot and was able to get NFL players free agency. Recently, he was also able to guarantee the players 60% of the total league revenue. Currently, the NFL has the longest streak of labor peace in the four major American professional sports (NBA, MLB, and NHL). Though the owners did opt out of the current CBA, there is still time for them to negotiate since it won’t expire until the end of the 2010 season.
One area Mr. Upshaw was criticized with was the retirement benefits for players no longer in the league. There are several players out there who did sacrifice their bodies for the game, but I think some other professional sports have had issues with their retirement plans. I also think Mr. Upshaw did not get the press exposure he should have when he explained some of the reasoning. This is a Gene Upshaw quote from an article by Mike Sando at ESPN.com earlier this year (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087):
"Everyone can talk about all of the money we have in the pension plan. We have as much liability as we have assets; in fact, we are a little underfunded.
"But we are not going to take a pension from guys that have one coming and give it to someone else. We have to solve it a different way and we will."
From the quote it should be pretty clear that if they take from the current players they’ll be even more underfunded with the current liability exposure. I even recall last fall reading an article about some type of increase to the retirement benefits, but it didn’t make much press at all.
A thought I had is that Mr. Upshaw may have been thinking of conceding a % or two of the revenue sharing to be reapplied to the pension for all current and past players. Not sure how much that would be exactly but to pay the premium for disability benefits or dump into the pension probably would help. It would even make sense for the owners to share in matching the same % to the pension or benefits.
As I mentioned when I was in DC earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend Mr. Upshaw’s service at The Kennedy Center. A former co-worker of mine at Potomac currently works at The Kennedy Center and I spoke with several other former co-workers I saw at Mr. Upshaw’s Memorial which was an amazing event.
The music was amazing at the service and you could feel the emotion in the room before it started. When the service started Mr. Upshaw’s brother spoke and mentioned the significance of the number 63. In 1963 Gene Upshaw graduated high school, he wore #63 during his career in the pros, and he passed away at the age of 63. Some of you probably noticed the GU – 63
symbol that was on the fields & jerseys opening week of the NFL and is currently on the back of the player’s helmets. His brother also mentioned the things that were important to him like his sons, family, car and life. This was the first of many insights to Gene Upshaw the human being. He was a very amazing person and touched a lot of lives, but didn’t desire anything in return.A couple of Mr. Upshaw’s sons spoke at the service along with several NFL figures. Each person gave insight into Upshaw as a person. Some talked about his passion for golf, costco, and public storage. A couple speakers mentioned him being late or fixing door knobs if someone’s office door was loose, all of which made him down to earth like everyone else.
Where he differed was in his desire to fight for what was right. He had a big heart and cared about others which made him a good Executive Director to fight on the players behalf. He also fought for others in his personal life outside of football. Another thing speakers mentioned was that he never complained. He just kept going and continued his hard work, which we all can learn from.
John Madden, who coached Upshaw on the Raiders, mentioned how Upshaw was the type of player a coach would occasionally seek out for guidance because of his leadership. At the end of Mr. Madden’s speech he was very emotional and you could tell how much he cared about his lost friend.
Tom Condon, SBJ’s #1 Most Influential Sports Agent, spoke about Upshaw who was one of his best friends and clients. Mr. Condon was funny, a great speaker, and also told of his admiration for Upshaw as a player before they met. A couple of the speakers mentioned that Mr. Upshaw’s wife had wanted them to keep their stories funny and concise. When Mr. Condon was in college he tried to imitate Upshaw’s (who was in the pros) elbow & arm pads only to have his coach make fun of him for even trying to compare himself to the professional.
Overall the speakers all spoke with great emotion, friendship, and complete respect for Upshaw. It was very unfortunate that Mr. Upshaw passed away, but he was able to touch & influence so many lives. He worked hard for everything he achieved, but also was human and cared about people.
Here are a few Upshaw articles I recommend reading that also served as some of my sources in addition to the several people I spoke to inside football and fans that followed his playing & executive careers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/sports/football/22upshaw.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
· Gene Upshaw, N.F.L. Union Chief, Dies at 63
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=3549586
· When Upshaw spoke, everyone -- including owners – listened
http://sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60060
· New NFL season opens, labor talks loom without key player
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3225087
· Upshaw: NFLPA won't take from current pensions to help ex-players
http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=6853F2F7363BC0FADBCA0D0848E3DEB9?id=09000d5d80a72310&template=with-video&confirm=true
· Tears, laughter at Gene Upshaw memorial service
If there are any mistakes I’ve made please let me know as I’m always open to correcting my mistakes.
Ben Seiz
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