He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 1996 NFL draft.
In high school, Upshaw played for Pittsburg High School (Pittsburg, California), helping defeat the previously undefeated De La Salle in the 1991 NCS championship game played at the Oakland Coliseum.
This was the last defeat De La Salle suffered before setting a national high school record of 151 straight victories.
Upshaw, who did not play football until his sophomore year at Pittsburg, was a Parade All-America as a senior.
This biographical article relating to an American football defensive lineman born in the 1970s is a stub.