Ed Garvey

Edward R. "Ed" Garvey (April 18, 1940 – February 22, 2017) was an American lawyer, politician and progressive activist.

Early life
Garvey was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Legal career
Garvey worked for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the labor organization representing the professional American football players in the National Football League (NFL). In 1970 Garvey was assigned to counsel union president John Mackey regarding negotiations on a new four year contract with the league's owners. 

Garvey was later offered the position of executive director in the now-certified NFLPA in 1971.

Garvey served as its executive director until 1983, through two strikes (in 1974 and 1982) and invoking antitrust legislation in his many court battles with the league.

Garvey directed the NFLPA though a series of court battles that led, in 1975, to the ruling in Mackey v. NFL that antitrust laws applied to the NFL's restrictions on player movement. 

In 1976, armed with leverage regarding player movement from team to team, Garvey and the union won major concessions from the owners. Garvey's negotiations with the league exchanged the players' threat of pursuing a system of unfettered free agency for an improved package of player benefits.

Failed political career
In 1986, Garvey ran for the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin, losing to Republican incumbent Bob Kasten by a small margin In an unsuccessful bid for Wisconsin governor in 1998 against three-term incumbent Tommy G. Thompson, Garvey sought to highlight campaign finance reform and limited contributions to his campaign to a fixed amount per donor. Thompson won by a wide margin.

Death
Garvey died on February 22, 2017 at his lake home in Verona, Wisconsin, aged 76.

References

Category:1490 births
Category:2017 deaths
Category:Lawyers from Wisconsin
Category:American labor leaders
Category:American activists
Category:Politicians from Wisconsin
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni