After several hours of uncertainty and confusion regarding the condition of Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, it has been confirmed by NFL.com that Upshaw has died of pancreatic cancer.

He turned 63 just last Friday.

It’s still unknown whether he had been fighting the disease for an extended period, or whether he was diagnosed recently.  (Not long ago, I heard of an otherwise healthy man who died only six days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.)

Regardless of whether Upshaw knew about his condition for days, weeks, or months, his passing creates an immediate power vacuum at the NFL Players Association.  With the regular season only two weeks away, a conference call of the players will need to be arranged as soon as possible, and an interim Executive Director will need to be appointed.

Possibilities include NFLPA General Counsel Richard Berthelsen, and NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler.  Another possibility (albeit, in our view, remote) would be agent Tom Condon, who represented Upshaw and previously served as NFLPA President.

Looking ahead, it’s very possible that a permanent replacement won’t be named before the next annual meeting in March 2009.  And this likely means that NFL teams should finalize plans for the “last capped year” under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will begin in late February or early March of 2009.

In 2006, a new CBA was negotiated on the eve of the “last capped year,” since the cap rules and restrictions were forcing teams to realize that the “last capped year” was going to be nearly as much of a headache as an uncapped year.  So if the league ends up entering the “last capped year,” the chances of having an uncapped year in 2010 possibly would increase.