June 8, 2006

Gene Upshaw, Texas A&I University 
Football
Graduated -1968
Major - Business

Gene Upshaw received a Bachelor degree from Texas A&I University (now known as Texas A&M-Kingsville) in 1968 after playing offensive guard for three seasons (1964-66).   

Picked in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, Upshaw enjoyed 16 successful pro seasons.   After his retirement, he was chosen by his peers as executive director of the NFL Players Association, a role in which he has served since June of 1983.   Upshaw has worked diligently at enhancing, protecting and defending the individual rights of professional football players throughout the National Football League. He is also Chairman of National Football League Players Incorporated.

A perennial All-Pro offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders, Upshaw was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, his first year of eligibility. He played in 217 league games and appeared in six Pro Bowls.  Upshaw holds the distinction as the only player in NFL history to play in three Super Bowls in three different decades - in the 60's, 70's and 80's.

The accolades are immense, as Upshaw was named Lineman of the Year in the AFC in 1973 and 1974. In 1977, he was voted top lineman in the NFL, and runner-up in 1980.  Upshaw was the 1980 recipient of the prestigious Byron "Whizzer" White Humanitarian Award for outstanding contribution to "team, community and country." In 1982, he was honored with the A. Phillip Randolph Award for significant accomplishments as one of the outstanding black leaders in America and 1993 saw him listed as 13th in the top 100 most powerful people in sports, according to The Sporting News.

Serving as an AFL-CIO vice president, Upshaw has emerged as one of the most powerful labor leaders in America.

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