The publicity around the death of Gene Upshaw ignored one of the most interesting aspects of his life: he had one of the most enduring mustaches in all sports. Twenty-eight years since his participation in the Super Bowl with the winners, the Oakland Raiders, Upshaw's gray mustache was like the man himself, physically a shadow of the once proud 'stache he sported, but a reminder of the power and intelligence of a man who reached a height few could ever have predicted.

Upshaw's life was a classic American tale.

After a successful football career, he used exceptional political skills to recreate himself as a labor leader, and, from the most humble of southern roots, he lead the NFL Players Association, a union at the center of America's most popular sport.

His mustache was of another era, one where players cultivated an outlaw image that was not always ready for prime time. The circumstances of his death - he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Sunday and died days later - have left that union scrambling.

In addition, there was controversy to his career. When confronted about pension and health care benefits for retired players, he cracked: "I don't work for them. They are not union members and they have no vote."

Many of those players were Mustached Americans who felt they had been forgotten as the active players grew rich. Mustached greats Mike Ditka and D1ck Butkus have lead the way in challenging current players and owners to take care of the men, many of them once household names, who are now in desparate need of health care benefits.

So, many older players are not as generous in their assessment of Upshaw. Sam Huff told the New York Times:  "You want to feel sorrier than you do. It’s a mixed feeling that I have today."

Huff, it should be noted, does not have a mustache.