Gene Upshaw

Former All-Pro NFL Offensive Guard

Career Highlights: After a successful 16-year NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, Gene Upshaw has been Executive Director of the NFL Players Association since June 1983…A perennial All-Pro offensive guard, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, his first year of eligibility…Upshaw played in 217 league games and appeared in six Pro Bowls…He was voted top lineman in the NFL in 1977 and was runner-up for that honor in 1980…He also was named Lineman of the Year in the AFC in 1973 and 1974…Upshaw is the only player in NFL history to play in three Super Bowls in three different decades (60’s, 70’s and 80’s)…He was a Raiders team captain, while also serving as an NFLPA players representative and officer for 13 years…Upshaw was a member of the executive committee from 1976-1980 when he was elected president of the NFLPA, a post he held until 1983…In 2004, the NCAA Division II sports information directors awarded the first Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award.

Updated: May, 2008
Courtesy NBC