NFLPA Director Gene Upshaw passes

So there's more news this morning, but i thought this deserved it's own spot.

From NFL.com:

Pro Football Hall of Famer and longtime NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw has died. The former offensive lineman had been fighting pancreatic cancer. He was 63.

Upshaw played for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1967 through 1981. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and an 11-time All-Pro, playing on two Super Bowl-winning teams with the Raiders. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987, but has been better known for the past 25 years as the executive director of the NFL Players Association.

From his involvement with the NFLPA as a player through his tenure as executive director, Upshaw took part in negotiations of the 1977, 1982 and 1993 Collective Bargaining Agreements between the NFL and NFLPA, and extensions of the CBA in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

I'm not going to talk about the concern I might have for the upcoming CBA negotiations nor any of the other stuff that has swirled around the NFLPA the last few years. Upshaw worked his tail off to keep the peace and we've had ridiculous amounts of it during his reign.

Our thoughts and prayers go to his family.

Back with more shortly...