Gene Upshaw We miss you more than you could know.

 With the current labor strife of the NFL it has become crystal clear to me that we miss Gene Upshaw more than I could have ever speculated. Since 1987 the NFL has been without a labor dispute. Football has been played seamlessly for 24 years, many of which Gene Upshaw was the president of the NFL Players Association. By working together with the NFL Mr Upshaw saw player salaries quadrupled over that time. Concessions for retired players, health care, retirement and overall player well-being improved immensely as well. It was a perfect union, the NFL and the Players, because Mr. Upshaw understood the big picture and how to make it all work. Now, that vision has dissolved. The new Player Association management has lost sight of the goal and exposed themselves as having single agenda that serves their purpose more than the players they represent.  It's going to be a long and ugly journey before this is done and it will come down to the players taking control of their own destiny and telling their management how to represent them, not allow management to dictate to them what they are going to do. The players are employees in a business that has an entry salary close to $350,000 a year. In addition the owners gave the players nearly 60% of the profits. If the players only get 45% of the profits, how is this a bad thing. No one is working for .25 cents a day and dying from black lung disease. The players have to control their representation and keep the big picture in view. I call out now to all NFL Players to take their union back from the greedy and destructive force they elected and use common sense. It's what Gene Upshaw would have done.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/12052