Coleman shaken hard by Upshaw's death

Former Vikings punter Greg Coleman was among those hit hard by the news of NFL Players' Association executive director Gene Upshaw's death last week.

"It took me pretty much most of the day," said Coleman, who provides sideline analysis on Vikings radio broadcasts on KFAN (1130 AM). "I just could not function."

Coleman choked up as he described his feelings. He and Upshaw had been friends since the mid-1970s; the two got to know each other because Coleman's roommate at Florida A&M, offensive lineman Henry Lawrence, was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the first round in 1974.

Upshaw, of course, had a Hall of Fame career as an offensive lineman with the Raiders. Coleman learned that he and Upshaw had both been part of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Coleman was shocked to learn Thursday that Upshaw, 63, had died the night before of pancreatic cancer at his home near Lake Tahoe, only days after learning he had the disease. The Vikings had a moment of silence for Upshaw before Saturday night's exhibition game against Pittsburgh at the Metrodome.

"It was a total shock, and one of two things happened," said Coleman, 53. "... Either it was misdiagnosed, or Gene knew what was going on and didn't want to upset the league. Didn't want to upset the players, didn't want to do anything to be a distraction. But that's the kind of man that Gene Upshaw was."

Coleman and Upshaw talked about three times a year and also would see each other at games on occasion. Coleman, who played for the Vikings from 1978 to '87, also had dealings with Upshaw when the punter served as the Vikings' players representative.

"Stability is one word [to describe Upshaw], but also experience," Coleman said. "He was a guy that had been there, done that. As a player, as a rep, as an ex-player, as a union official. Being in the backrooms when deals were done and deals were cut. He was doing the right thing for the players at the right time -- although a lot of players disagreed with that. But he did what was for the best for the masses."

Asked about how several old-time players have expressed resentment to the fact that the union has not taken care of them, Coleman said:

"If I look at the normal industry -- pick anyone. The salaries of that time were what they were. And then cost of living went up, marketing went up and all of those things. So did salaries increase? You can't go back and undo what's been done. I think Gene, for the most part, did as much as he possibly could, but one thing people fail to understand is that with 60 percent of the revenue going to the players, it's up to the current players to go back [and help].

"There's no more money to be had. The players of today have to say, 'I'm going to take less to go back and heal the guys from the past.' That's not happening, and everybody wants to put that on Gene. Let's look at it for really where it is. It's the players of today, because they make the market share."