15 Facts About Gene Upshaw

Gene Upshaw later served as the executive director of the National Football League Players Association.

Gene Upshaw was born in Robstown, Texas, and graduated from Robstown High School.

In 1967 at age 22, Gene Upshaw married Jimmye Lee Hill-Gene Upshaw.

Gene Upshaw played in three AFL Championship Games, seven American Football Conference title games, one AFL All-Star game, and six NFL Pro Bowls.

Gene Upshaw was selected by The Sporting News to the 1969 AFL All League team.

Gene Upshaw was part of a particularly strong offensive line during the 1976 season, with interior linemates Dave Dalby at center and George Buehler at right guard.

Gene Upshaw was the older brother of Marvin Upshaw, who was a defensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and St Louis Cardinals.

Gene Upshaw reached three Super Bowls in three different decades ; in total, Upshaw played in 24 playoff games with the Raiders.

Gene Upshaw was an active member of the bargaining committee for the National Football League Players' Association throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Gene Upshaw led the NFLPA in its unsuccessful strike in 1987 and through years of antitrust litigation against the league, including a brief period in which the NFLPA became a professional association rather than a union, that ended with the union's acceptance of a salary cap in return for free agency and an enhanced share of league revenues for the union's members.

Gene Upshaw alienated many retired players after comments he made in response to 325 former AFL and NFL players receiving minimal retirement benefits.

Stover along with a number of other players claim to have only been seeking a definite succession plan in order to avoid a drawn-out and messy transfer of power such as Gene Upshaw's death has seen realized.

Gene Upshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

In mid-August 2008 at his home in Lake Tahoe, Gene Upshaw began to feel ill.

In 2011, his son Eugene Upshaw III filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court regarding how the will was handled at the time of his father's death, stating his father was too ill to be able to understand the document he was signing.