Upshaw - Genius or Fool?

The owners 32-0 vote to prematurely end the collective bargaining agreement calls into question the performance of NFL union boss Gene Upshaw.

Is he the mastermind of a labor deal that was so slanted to the players that owners had to end it early?

One assumption would be that the owners now believe former commissioner Paul Tagliabue was fleeced by Gene Upshaw and the NFL Players Association when the contract was extended in 2006.

Or is he the stooge that focused on short term financial gain (the 59.5% of league revenue for player salaries) while being completely outmaneuvered by accepting some poison pill provisions in the event the owners cut the CBA short in their long-range attempt to rein in player salaries?

would be that this was part of the plan all along, that the final two years of that contract were never going to happen. By opting out, the owners have triggered a number of interesting clauses in the contract, and, what a surprise, all of them appear to benefit management.

Given Upshaw's history, the second scenario is most likely.