Thread: upshaw's $15 mill fund angers retire players.

Originally Posted by dabears54

This is the Stuff HATED about upshaw- he looked out for himself, but never his other retired players!.. he screwd the reitired players,while blaiming the owners, when it was his own fault, for making such bad plans , that only recently got fixed- and even worse secretely gave himself a $15 mill fund, while giving the retire players zippo at end

Gene upshaw's $15 mll fund angers retired players

Was highest paid union chief in pro sports Aaron Wilson

The late union chief Gene Upshaw's family has been fighting over a $15 million deferred comepnsation fund that was paid to his wife, according to the Washington Post.
Upshaw's large compensation has angered retired players who feel that the former Oakland Raiders lineman didn't fight for their rights as much as he did current players. Upshaw died in 2008.

Former Washington Redskins and Baltimore Colts linebacker Bob Grant was critical of Upshaw in remarks to the Washington Post. Grant is among a group of retired players suing the NFL Players Association and Players Inc., the NFLPA marketing arm.
“Wherever Gene is, he should be ashamed of himself, and his family should be ashamed for taking that money,” Grant said. “We have great players from the past who played 10 years or more collecting no more than $200 per month."

Added former Cleveland Browns defensive back Bernie Parrish: “There’s no other union leader in this country who was compensated at the same rate as he was compensated."
Parrish was involved in a $28 million class-action suit against Players Inc. in 2008.
Per the report, Upshaw 's widow was paid $15 million as well as $1.73 ,million in "past due compensation."

Upshaw was paid $4.3 million in 2006 as well as a $2.4 million bonus from Players Inc.
According to government records, Upshaw was paid a $4.3 million salary in 2006 and a $2.4 million bonus from Players Inc. That made him the highest paid union leader in all professional sports.

Upshaw had eight luxury vehicles, a boat and a home in Lake Tahoe in addition to his residence in Great Falls, Va.

I had always heard that the guy was a creep. This confirms it.

In the words of the Jackson 5, "One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch". I don't think anyone player alive, or most fans for that matter, will ever say they thought that Upshaw was a great NFLPA leader. This is just one example of it and he, or his estate, should be sued over it. That should be the case whenever such bold evidence of conflict of interest is found.

In the past I think the players have been far too disinterested in thier own welfare to assure that their representation has the players best interests at heart. I doubt they'll make mistakes like that in the future and to a degree the battle rages on for that very reason. It was pretty widely suspected the Upshaw was holding hands under the table with NFL ownership throughout his reign but for some reason the players turned a blind eye to it. Doubt that happens again.

Originally Posted by dabears54

yep and think that is a good thing.. but sucks that alot of the whining about th retired players not having money WAS siphoned from the money the teams gave the players to upshaw specifcally.. and shame on the team "rep's" and "exec committee' for not doing a better job of watching the store, or keeping an eye on books- not every player needed to beon top of this, but the rep's should ahve been and def. their 'exec committee" for oversight that obviously wasn't happening. A shame that this $15 mill could ahve solved almost all the complaining back in 2006-2007 when upshaw had the gall to go to capital hill and complain about the retired players and troop them out before congress, when the reailty was in the other hand taking the $15 mill for himself.

All may be true but the owners loved him bescause he pretty much sold his guys up the river. I'm sure a few of them had something to do with Gene's fringes.

Originally Posted by soulman

All may be true but the owners loved him bescause he pretty much sold his guys up the river. I'm sure a few of them had something to do with Gene's fringes.

and guess that's my point... the union is made up of PLAYERS, not one owner gets a vote.. why are the players electing someone who you claim is "buddy buddy and getting paid by the owners"... Sorry not only don't have any sympathy for THAT, but even less to then complain or point fingers at the other side for your own mistakes. personal responsbility!.. Do not know about you, but I sure DO NOT want the person negotiating for my future and financial stability to be "buddy,buddy" with the other side do you?.. and as any of those 20+ years, he could have been voted out and not had all these problems and nonsense- why not put the blame where it belongs? on the players themselves..

and no sure how pocketing $15 mill on the side has anythign to do with the owners? not sure how upshaw mismanaging the money given TO HIM, is being in the owner's pocket? or how he puts in a defered cmp plan to hide all this money for HIS FUTURE, anything to do with the owners, just seems 100% on him, and also ALOT to do with the 'exec committee" of the union signing off on the plan and ot properly overseeing what their elected representative was doing.. NOTHING to do ith the Owners actually.. and hnestly "IF" an owner had said something , he would be accused of tampering or trying to hurt the union

Originally Posted by dabears54

and guess that's my point... the union is made up of PLAYERS, not one owner gets a vote.. why are the players electing someone who you claim is "buddy buddy and getting paid by the owners"... Sorry not only don't have any sympathy for THAT, but even less to then complain or point fingers at the other side for your own mistakes. personal responsbility!.. Do not know about you, but I sure DO NOT want the person negotiating for my future and financial stability to be "buddy,buddy" with the other side do you?.. and as any of those 20+ years, he could have been voted out and not had all these problems and nonsense- why not put the blame where it belongs? on the players themselves..

and no sure how pocketing $15 mill on the side has anythign to do with the owners? not sure how upshaw mismanaging the money given TO HIM, is being in the owner's pocket? or how he puts in a defered cmp plan to hide all this money for HIS FUTURE, anything to do with the owners, just seems 100% on him, and also ALOT to do with the 'exec committee" of the union signing off on the plan and ot properly overseeing what their elected representative was doing.. NOTHING to do ith the Owners actually.. and hnestly "IF" an owner had said something , he would be accused of tampering or trying to hurt the union

Truthfully, if the players had voted to fire Gene Upshaw as player union representative back several years ago if they had ever found out about this (maybe they knew and just chose to ignore it like you said), it would have looked bad for them, like they were cutting their noses off to spite their faces. Gene Upshaw had a reputation of being a "greater than God" like person, so this may be why we never saw the NFLPA take action against him, especially if there were people who knew of what he was doing with the money.

The players have a long history of choosing the wrong guys to represent their interests. But, aren't you at all suspicious fo the fact that he managed to accumulate so much personal wealth while still managing to amass a $15mil deferred comp plan? Let's face it, Upshaw knew which side his bread was buttered on and while it may have been stupid of the players do believe in him that doesn't mean that he wasn't in the owners pockets.

Originally Posted by soulman

The players have a long history of choosing the wrong guys to represent their interests. But, aren't you at all suspicious fo the fact that he managed to accumulate so much personal wealth while still managing to amass a $15mil deferred comp plan? Let's face it, Upshaw knew which side his bread was buttered on and while it may have been stupid of the players do believe in him that doesn't mean that he wasn't in the owners pockets.

Soul- not everything needs to be owners vs players.. or a conspricacy. The Owners had ZERO to do with Upshaw, ZERO to do with electing him, Zero to do with setting up any pension( that would be illegal), Zero to do with setting up a deferred comp plan, Zero to do with Approving the plan, Zero to do with funding the plan , that intad of going to retire players-went almost all to Upshaw. that is 100% on Upshaw and the union itself NOTHING to do with the owners, Sorry!

Its Ok, to just say Upshaw is scum and liar( many have said this), and that a shame he tried to blame the Owner's for the pathetic pension benefits, that were not caused by the owner's but by Upshaw and the union leader's themselves,100% on Upshaw to defer $15 million to hismelf and not the reitired players, zero on owners and that that the owner's could do nothing about it- except shake their heads and say look at the plan itself- which unfor they did, but no one seemed to actually do it until recently.And upshaw's lies about the "owner's fault" for low pensions,when in reality was 100% on him, and he falsely tried to blame the owners, and the owner's even said at time 'look at the pension and benefits"( becaue they weren't allowed to design it or have a thing to do with it)- and unfort for a long time no one did, despite so much jsut going to upshaw

And guess if Upshaw was in the Owner's pocket's, wouldn't they have gotten the deal they wanted in 2006 from upsahw?and not now be fighting for lower 's and more give backs? i mean isn't that the "idea" of having soemoen in your pocket? to get abetter, not a worse deal??.. Sorry that doesn't pass the "smell test" to me. if it was the owner's wanting the status quo from 2006, you would have a point but its the oppoite, and they got a really bad deal that both sides admits greatly favored the union, which doesn't say upsahw was in the owner's pocket, jsut upshaw greedy, a liar and scum.

I've been saying this for 5+ years, that when he died( or left union), they would find all kinds of illegal stuff, and find out alot of the money was sipohoned off by him.. Just glad its finally coming home to roost where alot of the problems really were...and not sure if you everread the SI expose on Upshaw, but agreat read, that at the time, should ahve exposed much of this- but he died after the article, and the people that were catching on, got buried... nice to see in th end though all coming out now.

cont( about 9 pages but worth the read)

Conrad Dobler was near the front of the charge; how could I not remember him? Even with his hair turned white, his legs hobbled by five knee replacements, the old St. Louis Cardinals guard delivered a helmet-first shot. "Some people have no conscience," he snarled, "and he's one of them."

Then came a neck-snapping tackle from an old Baltimore Colts safety. "We have no interest in working with a man of his morality," said Bruce Laird. "He is a nonentity. . . . He means nothing to retired players."

On came another ancient guard, a former Buffalo Bill with a savage forearm shiver. "I won't stop until that bastard's gone or in jail," said Joe DeLamielleure. "He's a disgrace to every player, past and current."

Next came a creaking running back and a quarterback, one high and one low. "He is nothing more than a pawn," howled Mercury Morris, the former Miami Dolphin. "This is a scam. It's always been a scam and always will be a scam." Ex-Houston Oilers QB Dan Pastorini's hit was swift and brutal: "He makes me sick."

Then it grew worse. One of the eldest ghosts, a onetime Cleveland Browns cornerback, arrived like a missile and administered the lowest blow of all. "A habitual liar," Bernie Parrish hissed, and then demanded to know why the man wasn't a suspect in the unusual death of his ex-wife.

Two were his own quotes, when his anger at all the head slaps finally spilled. "The bottom line is I don't work for [retired players]," he told The Charlotte Observer in January 2006, responding to DeLamielleure's cries against him and their benefits. "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. [The retirees] say they don't have anybody in the [bargaining] room. Well, they don't and they never will. I'm the only one in that room. They don't even have a vote."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...214/index.html