Owner's Stooge

Is there a more toadyish union leader in today's world than NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw? We think not. Upshaw has come under increasing scrutiny and criticism for the way his association's retirement and disability plans treat former NFL players. It's gotten so bad that he's now hired a PR firm and crisis management guru Lanny Davis to help implement a charm offensive. Thus, this front Sports page profile of Upshaw and the controversies in the Washington Post.

Bottomline: Forget about the retired player, though their treatment is an absolute disgrace. Upshaw has been positively negligent in running the NFLPA for the current players.
The NFL is the premier sports league, by far, in the United States. Yet, somehow the best players - like Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb - at the most important position on the field do not make as much in annual salary ($10 million and $5.5 million respectively) as journeyman pitchers like Gil Meche, a career 62-56 pitcher who the Royals will pay an average of $11 million per year over the next five years! Maybe Jon Kitna is the NFL's version of Gil Meche, but Kitna will only make $5 million this year, less than half of Meche's take.