NFL players will wear a uniform patch this season to honor NFL Players' Association leader Gene Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20. The league announced on Monday that the patch will have the initials GU and the number 63, which he wore while playing for the Oakland Raiders. Upshaw died of pancreatic cancer just three days after he was diagnosed. When the New York Giants and Washington Redskins open the season on Thursday, Upshaw's wife, Terri, and his three sons will participate in the coin toss. Upshaw made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 as the first player to play guard exclusively. He won two Super Bowls and made seven Pro Bowls in his 307-game NFL career. He served 25 years as the executive director of the union from 1983 until his death. The Raiders also will honor Upshaw in their opening game next Monday with a video tribute, and a replica of the uniform patch will be painted on the field in Oakland. Brady is ready Tom Brady is ready to play in the New England Patriots' NFL opener but stopped short Monday of saying he would. "If it's up to me, there's no question" Brady said. "I've been getting progressively better over the past couple of weeks. I'm excited. I'm excited to start the year." Brady, who has a right foot injury, didn't play in any of four exhibition games although he said he could have. New England lost all four. "I felt like I could play all of them and I practiced the entire preseason, pretty much," he said. "The decision was made that, OK, Tom, you're not going to play, and I was fine with it." The Patriots start the season Sunday at home against the Kansas City Chiefs.
