by Alex Marvez

This became perfectly clear when Upshaw discussed his future as NFL Players Association executive director during a Wednesday meeting with select media in Atlanta.

Despite published reports of dissension in the NFLPA ranks, Upshaw said he will remain in office until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached. NFL team owners opted out of the current deal on Tuesday.

"I'm committed to staying here until this deal is done," Upshaw said. "If that means 2010, 2011 or whenever it is, that's when we'll talk about what happens next."

As the NFLPA chief since 1983, Upshaw has negotiated what can be considered the most beneficial labor deals for players in professional sports. Upshaw's negotiating experience is invaluable as the NFL and union try to find new ways to split more than $7 billion in annually generated revenue.

According to NFLPA bylaws, Upshaw will reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 in August 2010. Upshaw, though, is ready to amend that rule. He also may not face much opposition after a brouhaha earlier this spring with an NFLPA player representative.

Baltimore kicker Matt Stover sent an e-mail to other player reps last month urging a succession plan be finalized by March 2009. Upshaw chuckled while saying that won't happen because it could undermine his efforts.

"Everyone understands in this situation — and I made it pretty clear to all the players — that you can't have two people in charge of this deal," Upshaw said. "It's got to be one. The owners are always looking for that friendly port that they can get into. They're not going to find one."

Before the union's annual March meeting, Upshaw said he told the NFLPA's executive committee three times how he felt they should pick the next executive director. Upshaw said he then called a conference call with player reps after that committee had failed to address the issue at the meeting.

"Matt Stover was the last person to speak," Upshaw said. "He said, 'Gene, you know how I am. Just keep me in the loop,' or something to that effect. And that was it. What he put out (in the e-mail) ... was exactly what I told the players the week before."

Stover wrote that the union's executive board should "prepare for a change in leadership immediately" because of Upshaw's contractual situation and the pending showdown with NFL owners.

"I was on that conference call and I am not the only rep who listened and felt that it is time for a change," Stover wrote.

After what he thought was a confidential memo leaked, Stover sent another e-mail to the media claiming his intention was never to "oust" Upshaw. Stover declined to make himself available for further comment and couldn't be immediately reached Thursday morning through the Ravens media relations department.

NFLPA senior regional director Jason Belser said he has met with five teams since the meeting and not a single player indicated support of Stover's plan.

"The players are like, 'What is this guy doing? What is this rogue off the reservation doing in the climate that we're in?'" Belser said at Wednesday's NFLPA meeting. "You get one guy who comes out and tries to be the voice of the majority when he's the minority. You saw how quickly he backed away from what was said."

Still, there is now the perception that some union members are seeking Upshaw's departure. This was furthered by media reports claiming there was an unsuccessful "coup" attempt at the March meeting that would have replaced Upshaw with Troy Vincent, the outgoing NFLPA president.

Following that meeting, Upshaw also named Clark Gaines rather than Vincent as the NFLPA's assistant executive director. Vincent also was conspicuously absent from Wednesday's media get-together.

Upshaw never mentioned Vincent by name, but he doesn't appear part of the NFLPA's future management plans.

"One thing I've always believed in and the people I keep close to me — I'm not having anyone working for us or with us that I don't trust," Upshaw said. "So if there are people you don't see and are not involved, maybe you should ask yourself, 'Does Gene trust them?' and we'll go from there."

Upshaw already was under fire from some retired players who claimed the NFLPA wasn't doing enough to help with their medical benefits. In April, an agent with connections to NFLPA executives told FOXSports.com that current players "are sick of the way they're being treated" by union management. The agent said "there is no communication with the membership. Management is always defensive and runs roughshod. ... The arrogance is out of control."

Upshaw — who once threatened to break fellow Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure's neck when grilled about the union's commitment to retired players — knows his take-no-prisoners management style can rub some the wrong way. But Upshaw said he didn't see signs of insurgency at the NFLPA's annual meeting.

"We run our organization on a majority," Upshaw said. "We'll listen to the minority. They get a voice. But at the end of the day, there's a vote and we move on.

"Whenever you're entering into the period we're entering into now, you want to be as unified as you can be. You're not going to get 1,900 (players) to agree on anything. I hope they all agree that we're not willing to give anything back to (NFL) management. That's the key here."

Part three (coming Monday): The financial state of the NFL and NFLPA entering the upcoming CBA negotiations.