Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Gene Upshaw comes in at number 56 on NFL Films' "The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players" list produced in 2010. Subscribe to NFL Films: goo.gl/XJTggL
For a few games during the 1971 season, the Oakland Raiders had an all-HOF offensive line (Ron Mix, Bob Brown, Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto, AND Art Shell!) on the field-together-DAMN, let's run the ball!
This was in my mom and uncles era man were they spoiled looking at legendary players and raiders royalty I would have loved to see them play in person I know all the old players instead of bed time story I got raiders foot ball story's ... so I feel you on that statement !!
Philly B I know exactly how you feel! My dad will STILL reminisce about the old days. He would talk about the soul patrol-that friggin awesome secondary- and how fucking mean our defense and o-line was.
It's crazy to say that despite the Steeler's being "the team of the 70's", Oakland had the highest winning percentage, And seeing that 3 players from that O-line made the list for Alltimers its easy as to see why.
A lot of Raiders made the list, Otto, Shell, Upshaw, Hendricks, old man Willie, Mike Haynes, Marcus Allen, Rod Woodson even though he was only there for a season or so.
@@mylittlepitbull3143Even if they had beaten the undefeated dolphins ,and proceeded to beat the Vikings in the SB ,it still would have been just two sb wins compared to the steelers 4 . Objectively stating ,Steelers still would be team of decade . Raiders weren't beating that 72 dolphins machine .
People talk that Upshaw was to light for today’s game and I beg to differ; with his frame, he could of put on 50 pounds and been a all-time great in any era. Upshaw was pure class off the field and a monster on it; one of the greatest players ever! This coming from a 49ers fan.
It’s also important to factor in he played his best seasons before the 78 rules changes. What big offensive linemen can do now would’ve been called holding back in the day.
@@eliduttman315 Ah, the famous Green Bay Packers' sweep. You're right; they should never be forgotten. Also, I know that this is a video for Gene Upshaw (R.I.P) but I want to say Rest In Peace to Packer legend Jim Taylor, the legendary fullback who ran a lot of those sweeps. He passed away yesterday morning at the age of 83.
I met Phil Villipiano in Boston in the North End. He had been in town for Phil Esposito's number being retired. Also something not do with they both belonged to some Italian club. We talked for 2 hours about the Raiders. I'm a big Raiders fan he complimented me about my knowledge of Silver and Black history. He said it was like talking to a former teammate. He was pure class. I wore the same number in high school #41.
He was also a union representative who advocated on behalf of players by throwing a few viscous blocks on the NFL owners and league management. He was far more than a great offensive lineman.
He was an intimidating figure - huge, with that big neck roll... represented that team well. And, he had great speed. He could kick it out on an outside run and kick a DB right out of the play. Opponents would literally only have 10 defenders.
Art Shell and Gene Upshaw should've had one numerical position for both!!! These two as a tandem made the Raiders a BEAST, not to mention NOBODY (before or since) has had the kind of TIME to pass behind his line than Kenny Stabler!!!
@@mja91352 , but the game was different back then, the wide receivers didn't play the same role as they do now. It was more about the Team. With the advent of social media, things changed.
I'm so glad have been a raider fan since 1968 and sold malts and sodas at the coliseum, while living five blocks away and having true earlier years signed memorabilia.... I saw a lot of these games personally year after year.... Generation Blanda, Lamonica, Stabler and Plunket alumni... John Madden, speaks for himself.. Carr...Hmmmm!
My favorite team in the 70's. God football was great then. This showboating stuff today is so immature and unprofessional. Rule changes have ruined the game.
i feel like todays Nfl players are better skilled but the game isn't nearly as fun to bad for me i was born WAY to late hey Nfl films you should hook me up with some Dvds
todays players are better skilled.... look up the old games from yester year,, back in the 60s,70s,,, they have full games on You Tube,,, then look at todays games,,, heres a hint real Turf vs AstroTurf
What they didn't mention was that he is the only player in nfl history to go to 3 Superbowls in different decades but with the same team, Jerry although he did go to Superbowls in the 80s 90s and 00s, he did so with different teams, hope that makes sense
What’s wild is that GU played most of his career when rules were stricter for offensive linemen You had to keep your hands inside your elbows or else it would be called holding
This is correct lol, Big Bob was a bad man, has to be the greatest O line in history, then on the other side you have the Soul Patrol, what a team that was.
Upshaw was a great player no questions about it ( I always thought Art Shell was better myself) but I'll always remember him selling out his own retired veterans as well as players in general as the head of the NFL players association. To me that's more of his legacy than that of his playing days.
I just found out today that Gene Upshaw is a distant relative of mine. I asked my Uncle Ray and he told me that his sister's great grandson is Gene Upshaw thus meaning he's like my 3rd cousin or something. My Uncle Ray's sister is my Aunt Ruby. Gene Upshaw was also a brother of the same fraternity my father used to be a brother of. The name of the fraternity was Alpha Phi Alpha.
This is the reason why I fell in love with this beautiful franchise,its amazing the disrespect y'all so called football fans and media have for my beloved Raiders 🤬🤬
