NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 55 - Earl Upton, Jefferson

The 1985 Jefferson J-Hawks are probably the least celebrated great team in NIC-10 history.

Jefferson went 8-1 to win its second straight NIC-10 title - this one outright - and two of the teams it beat went on to IHSA state title games. Hononegah went to the 4A championship game where it lost and East went to the 5A title game, which it won easily.

Jefferson was bumped up to 6A, then the largest class, and lost in the second round to Buffalo Grove, which advanced to the 6A semifinals, to finish 9-2.

The heart and soul of that team on offense and defense was Earl Upton, the No. 55 player on our list.

Upton was a key cog in Jefferson's share-the-wealth wishbone attack. He finished third in the NIC-10 in rushing in 1984 with 566 yards in eight games, averaging 7.4 yards a carry. A Rockford teachers strike scrambled the schedule and not every boxscore appeared in the local newspapers.

In 1985, he was second on the J-Hawks in rushing and 11th in the conference with 602 yards in 11 games.

On defense, he keyed the backfield for Jefferson's hard-hitting defense. With Upton in the secondary and Jim Randall at linebacker (No. 56 on our list), Jefferson surrendered just 148 points over 20 games in 1984 and 1985.

Upton joined Randall in choosing to play for Northern Illinois University, a program that was rising under coach Jerry Pettibone by aggressively recruiting NIC-10 players.

Upton redshirted as a freshman, lettered in three of his four seasons and was a starting cornerback his final two. In those final two seasons, Upton recored 100 tackles, defended 14 passes and intercepted five. The Huskies were 27-16 during Upton's time in DeKalb.

Upton now lives in Florida where he's a senior HR partner for Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals.

No. 55 - Earl Upton, Jefferson
Year	Level	School	Accomplishments	Points
1984	High School	Jefferson	Special Mention All-Conference	1
			Winning Team	1
			Conference Champion	1
1985	High School	Jefferson	First Team All-Conference	1
			All-State	1
			Playoff Team	1
			Conference Champion	1
1987	College	Northern Illinois	Played in NCAA Div. 1A	1.75
1988	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner for NCAA Div. 1A	3.5
			Winning Team	1
1989	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner for NCAA Div. 1A	3.5
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
1990	College	Northern Illinois	Letter Winner for NCAA Div. 1A	3.5
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
Total				25.25

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players