Early life. [9], 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. Hometown High School Previous School; 1: Jaylon Robinson: WR: 5-9: 163: R-So. The second crucial rule change was necessitated by the first. In an infamous 1987 incident during labor negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA, Dallas Cowboys president and general manager Tex Schramm told Upshaw, “Gene, here’s what you have to understand: we’re the ranchers and you’re the cattle, and we can always get more cattle.” [3] [4], He alienated many retired players after comments he made in response to 325 former AFL and NFL players receiving minimal retirement benefits. Gridiron football was the creation of elite American universities, a fact that has shaped its distinctive role in American culture and life. The destination for all NFL-related videos. 62 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [1] He played college football at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville), where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Hide/Show Additional Information For Jeff Foreman ... Redshirt Senior Myrtle Beach, S.C. Forrest High School. In 2004, the NCAA Division II sports information directors awarded the first Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award. [7] Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae, president of the NFLPA, had denied reports of mass callings from players for Upshaw to step down. In 1888 Camp proposed that tackling below the waist be legalized, in order to offset the advantage of speedy backs streaking around the ends. 50 These include the Heidi Game, the Immaculate Reception, The Sea of Hands Game, Ghost to the Post, the Holy Roller Game, and Red Right 88. The first, in 1880, further refined Harvard’s initial innovation, abolishing the scrummage altogether in favour of a scrimmage, which awarded possession of the ball to one of the two teams. Since the 1980s, however, primarily through the marketing efforts of the National Football League, teams and leagues have been established in Europe, and the game has achieved a degree of international popularity through television. Opener: vs. West Ranch, March 19, at Valencia High, 7 p.m. 9. Full Bio. He is also the only player in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl in three different decades with the same team. After his sudden death, the NFL announced that for the opening weekend of the 2008 season, all 32 teams would wear a patch on the left chest of the jerseys with the initials "GU" and the number 63, Upshaw's jersey number with the Oakland Raiders; the patch was also painted onto every NFL field for Week 1. Upshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. [10][11] The case was settled out of court prior to the trial, but the facts of the case created more conflict between retired players and the NFLPA, with several prominent retired players/advocates lashing out at Upshaw and his family for a $15 million payment in his will and citing the large number of disabled and broke veterans who had no resources; however, the reporting also showed that the $15 million was a deferred payment from Upshaw's long tenure as the NFLPA head and the money was taken out of his salary during that time and served as a de facto pension separate from the issues that were causing controversy.[11]. In mid-August 2008 at his home in Lake Tahoe,[8] Upshaw began to feel ill. His wife Terri (née Buich) noticed that his breathing was labored, so she convinced him to go to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on August 17. In 1987, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He 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. He was selected by The Sporting News' to the 1969 AFL All League team. Walter Camp and the creation of American football, Knute Rockne and the influence of coaches, Birth and early growth of professional football, The racial transformation of American football, American professional football all-time records, https://www.britannica.com/sports/gridiron-football, football - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), football - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). 2021 Football Roster # Name Pos. Full Bio. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Camp’s more orderly manner of initiating play did not require the team in possession of the ball to give it up. They can have their opinion. Rejecting the traditional manner of putting the ball in play—players from both teams massed about the ball in a “scrummage,” or “scrum,” trying to kick it forward through the mass of players—Harvard opted for “heeling it out,” or kicking the ball backward to a teammate. "[6] While Upshaw's comments were true on the letter of the NFL's benefit rules—the NFLPA is charged with the union rights of active players, and any matters dealing with retirees are subject to negotiations between the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council—they were badly received by both former and current players, fans, and the media. Jackson did well in school, and in sports. Over the course of his sixteen seasons in the NFL, Upshaw witnessed—and, in many cases, participated in—many iconic NFL games and plays. Corrections? During that time, he played in three Super Bowls; in the 1967, 1976, and 1980 seasons, making him the first player to reach the game in three different decades (Jerry Rice and Bill Romanowski would later accomplish the feat in 2003). He also reached three Super Bowls in three different decades (1967, 1976, and 1980); in total, Upshaw played in 24 playoff games with the Raiders. Drew Brees scrambling from a Dallas Cowboys defender during an NFL game, December 19, 2009. He 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. Hide/Show Additional Information For Matt Russell ... High Ridge, Mo. They can complain about me all day long. When the former players attempted to have the NFL and the NFLPA consider their plight, Upshaw responded: "The bottom line is I don't work for them. The official 2021 Football Roster for the . Two of Camp’s revisions in particular effectively created the gridiron game. Gridiron football, version of the sport of football so named for the vertical yard lines marking the rectangular field. It also developed simultaneously in Canada, where it evolved into a 12-man game, though it never achieved the great popularity and status of ice hockey there. Eugene Thurman Upshaw Jr. (August 15, 1945 – August 20, 2008), also known as "Uptown Gene" and “Highway 63”, was an American professional football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). In the 1980 AFC championship game of the 1980–81 NFL playoffs, the Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, rushing for 138 yards and passing for 261 yards. 03.04.2018 - (David Berger) Der Theologe, Philosoph, Publizist, Bestsellerautor und Macher von Philosophia perennis Dr. Dr. habil. Staley HS. Take this quiz to test your knowledge of the biggest sporting spectacle in North America. After playing football in college at a number of offensive line positions, he settled at left offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and the National Football League for 15 years. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. He was the older brother of Marvin Upshaw, who was a defensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals. Until his death, he was the Executive Director of the Association. Yr. He also played in three AFL Championship Games, seven American Football Conference title games, one AFL All-Star game, and six NFL Pro Bowls. Gridiron football, version of the sport of football so named for the vertical yard lines marking the rectangular field. Rockwood Summit HS. The Raiders then beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI, rushing for a whopping 266 yards and passing for 180 yards, as Upshaw overwhelmed the opposing defensive tackle, Alan Page, a Hall-of-Famer. [2] Together they had one son, Eugene Upshaw III, and later divorced.[2]. And in 1996, Upshaw was also inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. It was then put in play by heeling it out. After several decades of informal, student-organized games that were tolerated by faculty as an alternative to more destructive rowdiness, the first intercollegiate football game was played on November 6, 1869, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, between in-state rivals Princeton and Rutgers according to rules adapted from those of the London Football Association. This soccer-style game became the dominant form as Columbia, Cornell, Yale, and a few other colleges in the Northeast took up the sport in the early 1870s, and in 1873 representatives from Princeton, Yale, and Rutgers met in New York City to found the Intercollegiate Football Association and to adopt a common code. But the active players have the vote. Think you know all about the Super Bowl? [12] Beginning in the second week of the season, all teams wore the patch as a decal on their backs of their helmets instead of a shoulder patch; the Raiders continued to wear the patch on their shoulder throughout the season. Conspicuously missing was Harvard, the country’s premier university, whose team insisted on playing the so-called “Boston Game,” a cross between soccer and rugby. Gridiron football has not been taken up in the rest of the world to the same degree as other American sports such as basketball and baseball. Upshaw was an active member of the bargaining committee for the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Omissions? In 1967 at age 22, Upshaw married Jimmye Lee Hill-Upshaw (née Hill). After Princeton simply held the ball for an entire half in its 1880 and 1881 contests with Yale, both games ending in scoreless ties that bored spectators as much as they frustrated Yale’s players, Camp proposed a rule that a team must advance the ball 5 yards or lose 10 in three downs (plays), or it would be obliged to surrender the ball to the other side. The Raiders then beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, rushing for a 117 yards and passing for 261 yards again, as Upshaw, Dalby, and right guard Mickey Marvin outmatched Eagle nosetackle Charlie Johnson and inside linebackers Bill Bergey and Frank LeMaster. The sport, played with 11 on each side, originated in North America, primarily in the United States, where it eventually became the country’s leading spectator sport. Upshaw was born in Robstown, Texas, and graduated from Robstown High School. The following year, for Harvard’s first football contest with Yale, representatives of the two schools agreed on “concessionary rules” that were chiefly Harvard’s. David Berger begründet in 67 Sekunden, warum er trotz seiner CDU-Mitgliedschaft dieses Mal mit Erst- und Zweitstimme die AfD wählen wird. After the crucial rule changes, the play of the game was relatively open, featuring long runs and numerous lateral passes, as in rugby. This style of play proved so brutal that the game was nearly abolished in the 1890s and early 1900s. Junior Oklahoma City, Okla. Del City. Camp was also responsible for having 11 players on a side, for devising a new scoring system in 1883 with two points for a touchdown, four points for the goal after a touchdown, and five points for a field goal (a field goal became worth three points in 1909, a touchdown six points in 1912), for creating the quarterback position, for marking the field with stripes, and for proposing several other innovations, but it was those two simple rules adopted in 1880 and 1882 that most fundamentally created American football. Junior Kansas City, Mo. Watch game, team & player highlights, Fantasy football videos, NFL event coverage & more In 1999, he was ranked No. Updates? Full Bio. No. Harvard made the first breach in rugby rules. (Snapping the ball with the hand became legal in 1890, though snapping with the foot continued as an option until 1913.) Girls Varsity Volleyball vs. Forest Hills Central High School Monday night the Pioneer Volleyball Team went head to head with #8 ranked Forrest Hills Central for their first district match. I'm going to break his damn neck. The official 2020 Football Roster for the Campbellsville University Tigers ... Tenn. Forrest High School. They don't hire me and they can't fire me. Pound sign (#) denotes interim executive director. In the 1976 AFC championship game of the 1976–77 NFL playoffs, the Raiders beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, rushing for 157 yards and passing for 88 yards. Birmingham Charter: The City Section’s most talented, highly-touted football prospect is Birmingham’s Arlis Boardingham. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. American football player, labor leader, NFLPA president, Gene Upshaw—awards, championships, and honors, Las Vegas Raiders first-round draft picks, National Football League Players' Association, "Raider star later led NFL players union", Ex-players say NFL neglects retirees: Hall of Famers: League, union leader fall short in providing benefits, "NFL retirees feel forgotten as fight for benefits rages", Hall of Famer Upshaw loses battle with pancreatic cancer, "Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, Head of NFL Players' Union, Dies", "Gene Upshaw's Will – or was it really his Will? Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Emeritus Professor of American Literature and Culture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. When spectators (including Princeton students) as well as Yale players saw the advantages of the rugby style, the stage was set for a meeting in 1876 of representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia to form a new Intercollegiate Football Association based on rugby rules. Author of. ... Lineman OL 6'0" 279 lbs Clay City, Ky. Powell Co. High School. Prior to his death, a campaign was allegedly being led by Ravens kicker Matt Stover to oust Gene Upshaw as head of the NFLPA; however, all parties have denied such a plan. 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 Upshaw's death has seen realized. The new rule resulted in the rise of mass plays, an offensive strategy that massed players on a single point of the defense, most famously in Harvard’s “flying wedge” in 1892. Jackson attended Glenbard North High School, where he played high school football alongside his brother during sophomore year. It is presented each year during the weekend of the NCAA Division II Football Championship by the Manheim (Pennsylvania) Touchdown Club. In May 1874, in the second of two matches with McGill University of Montreal (the first was played by the rules of the Boston Game), Harvard’s players were introduced to the rugby game and immediately preferred it to their own. Ht. [citation needed]. Jackson played football, basketball, and track in high … He later served as the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA). Upshaw was born in Robstown, Texas, and graduated from Robstown Wt. The further transformation of English rugby into American football came chiefly through the efforts of Walter Camp, who even during his lifetime was known as the “Father of American Football.” As an undergraduate and then a medical student at Yale, Camp played football from 1876 through 1881, but—more important—beginning in 1878, he dominated the rules committee for nearly three crucial decades. Gridiron football evolved from English rugby and soccer (association football); it differs from soccer chiefly in allowing players to touch, throw, and carry the ball with their hands, and it differs from rugby in allowing each side to control the ball in alternating possessions. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He was a three-sport high school athlete with a nearly 5.0 grade point average. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. On August 20, Upshaw died with Terri and his sons Eugene III, Justin, and Daniel by his side, five days after his 63rd birthday. ", "Gene Upshaw had $15 million fund from NFL players union", NFL players to wear uniform patch this season in honor of Upshaw, National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, National Football League Players Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gene_Upshaw&oldid=1006636965, American Football League All-League players, American Football League All-Star players, African-American players of American football, Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas football players, Executive Directors of the National Football League Players Association, Presidents of the National Football League Players Association, Short description is different from Wikidata, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text and caption, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2008, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 February 2021, at 23:28. The official 2020 Football Roster for the Wofford College Terriers "[5] Upshaw later said he was misquoted and was speaking solely about fellow Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, further saying "A guy like DeLamielleure says the things he said about me; you think I'm going to invite him to dinner? Gridiron football evolved from English rugby and soccer (association football); it differs from soccer chiefly in allowing players to touch, throw, and carry the ball with their hands, and it differs from rugby in allowing each side to control the ball in alternating possessions.