NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw has been instrumental in adopting a rule of mandatory retirement at age 65.  So when he turns 65 in 2010, he’ll retire, right?

Wrong.

According to SportsBusiness Journal, Upshaw says that he won’t leave until he is satisfied that the “right leader” is in place.  And Upshaw’s 65th birthday is due to arrive on August 15, 2010, at a time when the NFL and the NFLPA are preparing for the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

He also denied published reports that former NFLPA president Troy Vincent has been hired as the Assistant Executive Director, a job that would put Vincent in line to succeed Upshaw.

“The speculation that Troy will succeed me is just that,” Upshaw said.  “It will not be my decision to make but I will have plenty of input.”

Though there previously was an Assistant Executive Director, Upshaw clearly (and, in our view, clumsily) is resisting the idea of filling the job.  “There is only one No. 1 and there will not be a No. 2.  Number 2 is always trying to become No. 1 and never wants to wait.  They can always do it better.  They are like backup [quarterbacks].  There is a reason they are backups.”

Wow.  Mr. Upshaw is a little full of himself, ain’t he?  At a minimum, Upshaw is trying to protect his turf, by not even putting another guy in position to threaten his job.  If, after all, there’s a backup, the coaching staff (i.e., the players who pay the dues that pay Upshaw’s seven-figure salary) won’t have any options, if they don’t like the direction in which things are heading.

And with plenty of players who have limited shelf lives as pro athletes certain to become nervous about the possibility of a work stoppage, the last thing Upshaw needs to have is an in-house alternative.

So this one could get very interesting.  Especially if the players figure out what Upshaw is trying to do, and attempt to resist it.