Oakland Raiders - Gene Upshaw

Oakland Raiders - Gene Upshaw

There are a ton of Raiders alumni that could be argued as the franchise's greatest player of all-time. Bo Jackson, Charles Woodson, Ken Stabler, Marcus Allen, Time Brown, Howie Long, the list goes on... However, the talent of the Raiders' offensive linemen throughout the 1970s went unmatched. So, we're giving the Raiders' crown to none other than Hall of Fame offensive guard, Gene Upshaw. While Art Shell and Jim Otto were also apart of that great o-line Upshaw was team's o-line enforcer.

Following his collegiate football career at Texas A&I University, Upshaw was picked 17th overall in the 1967 NFL Draft. Upshaw would go on to play his entire career as a member of the Raiders starting in 207 out 217 games he was listed active for. The 6x Pro Bowler was a member of the team's two Super Bowl victories in Super Bowl XI and XV and was nominated for three First-Team All-Pro roster spots throughout his career. Unforunately, Upshaw tragically passed away at the age of 63-years-old days after finding out he had pancreatic cancer in 2008. Gene Upshaw will be remembered for his contributions to game of football forever.

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Did You Know...

I

Most of your favorite celebrities either studied acting in college or went straight from high school into a life of the arts. But, hey, not all of them. Some celebrities actually have advanced college degrees.

II

Turns out Mayim Bialik is just as much of a genius as the one she plays on The Big Bang Theory. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on obsessive compulsive disorder among people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare condition in which the hypothalamus malfunctions.

III

Little known fact: Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace because she was studying for her high school exams. She had two papers published in scientific journals while she was still in high school, and graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.

IV

Before he was looking for answers on X-Files, David Duchovny was just trying to find the answers for English finals at Princeton University90. David graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a B.A in English. He continued to feed his love of literature by receiving a master’s degree in English Literature at Yale University. David was an excellent writer and poet. His work consistently received praise by his fellow classmates and teachers at Yale. His writing was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets.

V

Sigourney Weaver graduated from Stanford University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in Literature. It was while studying at Stanford that Sigourney realized her true passion in life was to become an actress. Shortly after graduation, she attended Yale for their well-known drama program. She would go on to receive a master’s in Acting from Yale University and become friends with fellow famous actress Meryl Streep.

VI

Meryl Streep is considered one of the most successful actresses of all time. She is also one of the most highly educated. Before collecting an array of Oscars, Meryl collected diplomas. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1971. Meryl has a habit of being unsatisfied with impressive accomplishments as her acting career has shown, so she attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in Acting.

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