Free Republic

Mississippi state lawmaker Jessica Upshaw was found dead in a residence on Sunday with a bullet wound to her head, the Clarion Ledger reports. Upshaw, a 53-year-old Republican, was found in the home of former Mississippi State Rep. Clint Rotenberry, Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis told the Clarion Ledger.

NEW YORK (TICKER) —NFL.com is reporting that Gene Upshaw, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and executive director of the NFL’s Players Association, died early Thursday morning after a bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 63. Upshaw, a former left guard for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, was named an All-Pro 11 times in his 16-year career. He also was selected to seven Pro Bowls between 1967 and 1981 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987 - his first year of eligibility. Upshaw was a member of the Oakland team that won the...

The NFL owes its old and broken-down players nothing. That is just the way it is in business. You negotiate your pension and medical benefits at the time of your employment. You do not settle into retirement years later and cry, "No fair." To be honest, you can cry all you like, but no one is apt to feel your pain. Mike Ditka felt compelled to cry on Capitol Hill last week, when he voiced frustration with the system before a House subcommittee. Give Ditka this. His motivations are altruistic. He is not concerned about his financial situation. He made...

A Pro Football Hall of Famer who has been one of Gene Upshaw's strongest critics is unhappy with a threatening remark the executive director of the NFL Players Association made about him last week. Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure, one of the leading advocates of retired NFL players who are in need of financial assistance, isn't taking what Upshaw said in last week's Philadelphia Daily News lightly. In the interview, Upshaw defended his record for helping retired players and zeroed in on DeLamielleure, who has previously called for Upshaw's ouster. "A guy like DeLamielleure says the things he said...

Houston's Bob McNair, an owner of one of the NFL's high-revenue franchises, said yesterday the dispute between the owners over revenue-sharing pales in comparison to the chasm between the league and the NFL Players Association on talks to extend the collective bargaining agreement, which is a year from expiration. "The collective bargaining agreement is more in the hands of the Players Association and their willingness to be reasonable," McNair said. "No agreement is better than a bad agreement." McNair pooh-poohed the idea reported earlier this week that he and such fellow high-revenue owners as Washington's Dan Snyder would sue if...

Upshaw calls diversity resolution 'ridiculous' By Len Pasquarelli ESPN.com NEW YORK -- Emerging from a meeting where he had shared with NFL owners his view on the issue of hiring practices, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw on Wednesday termed "ridiculous" a plan submitted by civil rights activists that would reward or penalize franchises via draft picks for considering minority candidates. "I think if you have a mandated, diverse list of candidates, all you invite are sham interviews and sham hiring lists," said Upshaw. "We really don't need Johnnie Cochran to remind us (of the paucity of black head...