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Upshaw played game hard on and off the field

By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Thursday, August 21, 2008

As a player, Gene Upshaw was unlike most guards. He loaded his forearms with extra amounts of padding to prepare for the opposition. Offensive linemen, guards in particular, protect quarterbacks in relative anonymity. But Upshaw knew offenses needed to knock people over to move forward. Upshaw knocked opponents down as well as any blocker who ever played in the NFL, and he didn't do it quietly. Upshaw, who died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday night, took the same appro ...

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