But later in 1989, the lower court's decision in the suit -- Powell vs. the NFL -- was reversed by a federal appeals court, which ruled that antitrust laws could not apply because the NFLPA was a labor union. Upshaw was in Albany, making a speech at a drug awareness seminar, when he received the news via telephone from general counsel Richard Berthelsen.
"We're going to decertify," Upshaw said after only a few seconds. "Let's go."
"It was the only alternative we had," Upshaw explains today. "The union is in place to protect the players, not the owners. If the union isn't doing its job, it shouldn't be there."
Dismantling the union is now seen through the lens of history as one of the boldest strokes ever by a labor leader.
"It was a roll of the dice, an all-or-nothing bet," Allen said. "The interesting thing? The harder it gets, the simpler it gets. We had two choices: surrender or fight. As a staff, we were betting not just our jobs but our careers, Gene most of all."
With no union dues coming in, there was a negligible cash flow. The non-union was not able to engage in collective bargaining, but it was free to pursue its legal battles. Its only major source of income: group licensing money the union had fought for that amounted to millions and helped pay for the lawyers. In labor relations, capital equals leverage, and this incoming cash was just enough to sustain the effort.
Meanwhile, the NFL was thought to be behind an effort by Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka to re-unionize the players. This forced the remnants of the NFLPA to become an anti-union, lobbying the players, fighting for survival. Somehow, Upshaw held things together.
As the players' litigation began to wind through the court system, the dynamic at the top of the NFL changed. Pete Rozelle, the commissioner for 29 years, was succeeded in late 1989 by Tagliabue. Raiders owner Davis, a pariah in many NFL eyes, gave him some valuable advice.
"[It was] about how to change the relationship with the players' association and to make it less adversarial and less confrontational, and build a relationship of respect and trust," Tagliabue said recently in an NFL Network interview. "We've tried to do that over the years, Gene Upshaw and I, and the owners and the Players Association Executive Committee. He and I have always been on the same page when it comes to trying to make this system work fairly."
From 1987 to 1993, about 20 lawsuits were filed by the NFLPA against the NFL. The most important involved Jets running back Freeman McNeil, who -- with seven other players -- challenged the league's restrictions on free agency, and defensive end Reggie White, who was part of a class action suit.
In 1991, Judge David Doty ruled that the NFL was no longer exempt from antitrust laws after the NFLPA's decertification, spurring the league to consider a deal. In November 1992, the league and the union began bargaining in earnest. In January 1993, the two sides came to a resolution. Players would get unprecedented free agency and a percentage of gross revenues; owners would get a salary cap.