Death Before Disability

(Props to Don)

Or
Upshaw Creek

Or
P’Shaw, Perish the Thoughtless
(Additional accolades for Don)
Former NFL greats may finally realize the fruits of the league they built into the most successful in sports now that the greatest impediment to addressing the needs of retirees has been lifted, or should I say lowered into the ground, with NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw’s death at the age of 63 from pancreatic cancer. While Upshaw did secure free agency for players, the NFL is the only league without guaranteed contracts, so players are free to sign 12-year, $100 million contracts, and then get cut when they hit 30 and lose a step. And the fates of older players are even more dire, with little to no support in the form of pensions or disability payments and scant attention paid to their situation in collective bargaining agreements. Upshaw, by far the highest-paid sports union chief, was deeply concerned with his contemporaries, explaining: “The bottom line is I don’t work for them. They don’t hire me, and they can’t fire me. They can complain about me all day long. They can have their opinion. But the active players have the vote. That’s who pays my salary." Upshaw had also been well behind the curve in addressing the serious long-term effects of post-concussion syndrome among players, apparently determining that his best chance for keeping his job was overseeing a league full of men whose bells had been rung too frequently. There were reports of spreading dissatisfaction with Upshaw and Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover had called for his removal. In his playing days, Upshaw was one of the best offensive linemen in the league, earning spots on one AFL All-Star and seven NFL Pro Bowl teams in a 15-year Hall of Fame career with the Oakland Raiders.