Category profile
- Dominance
- 84
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 92
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 2 | |
| 1969 | 3 | |
| 1970 | 4 | |
| 1971 | 5 | |
| 1972 | 5 | |
| 1973 | 5 | |
| 1974 | 5 | |
| 1975 | 4 | |
| 1976 | 4 | |
| 1977 | 3 | |
| 1978 | 3 | |
| 1979 | 2 | |
| 1980 | 2 | |
| 1981 | 1 |
Data sources
- NFL.com
- Pro Football Reference
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Gene Upshaw ranks #20 in American Football
Gene Upshaw ranks 20th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 965th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 92, Longevity 92, Honours 86, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 381 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1967–1981 with 15 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1971, which sets the Peak component at 92. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes super bowl titles 2, pro bowls 7, first-team all-pro selections 5, games played 217.
Immediately ahead sits Reggie White on 88.5, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Art Shell on 88.5. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Gene Upshaw GOAT Score explained
- Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Upshaw stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1971. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity92/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 14 years of competition and 15 recorded seasons. Scored 92/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Upshaw comparisons
Gene Upshaw — frequently asked
- Is Gene Upshaw the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Gene Upshaw ranks 20th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 88.5, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Gene Upshaw's GOAT Score?
- 88.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 92 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Gene Upshaw rank all time?
- 965th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 20th within American Football.
- Gene Upshaw vs Reggie White: who ranks higher?
- Gene Upshaw, on 88.5 against Reggie White's 88.5 — a margin of 0.0 points.