Joey Porter is right. The news media, including this column, has spent too much time on his salary and his attitude. Although conducting himself away from the field pretty much like one extremely unhappy camper this summer, Porter has fulfilled every aspect of his contractual obligation to the Steelers in a professional manner. Nothing more can be asked.

Porter also is wrong. He's the guy who put the subject on the front burner by telling the NFL Network he felt he was underpaid. Any time an outstanding athlete, particularly one who played a prominent role on the Super Bowl champions, draws attention to his situation -- and that's what Porter did -- he should expect to be written about.

The following, however, is not about Porter. It's about why he griped about his salary in the first place.

On the current edition of HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," the host takes an extreme blast at Gene Upshaw, longtime head of the National Football League Players Association, which is the bargaining agent for Porter and his colleagues.

In his parting shot, in the form of an open letter to new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who will replace Paul Tagliabue Sept. 1, Gumbel said the following:

"Before he cleans out his office, have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

Tagliabue was furious and hinted that Gumbel could lose his job as play-by-play voice of the NFL Network. Upshaw refused to respond to the statement.

Gumbel clearly hit a sore point. He might have gone too far in addressing the relationship between Tagliabue and Upshaw, but there can be no mistaking the fact that the compensation for NFL players pales next to what pro baseball and basketball players earn. The price of labor peace in the NFL -- and all the benefits that come with it -- has been reduced compensation for the players. There's no getting around that.

Porter is a star player, playing an important position on the Super Bowl champions. In this his eighth year, he will make $3.85 million.

Compare that figure to what Pirates and ex-Pirates are making.

Jack Wilson, Kip Wells and Craig Wilson all in their sixth season, are making, respectively, $4.75 million, $4.15 million and $3.3 million. Sean Casey, in his eighth season, is making $8.5 million.

Those players have the same service time or less than Porter. None is as good at his job as Porter is. All except Craig Wilson, who is not a regular, are making more.

The Pirates are the opposite of the Steelers. They're one of the worst teams in baseball with one of the lowest payrolls, yet they have ordinary to good players making more than a star for the Steelers.

The Philadelphia Phillies, playing in a bigger market and with more success, yet not nearly at a championship level, paid these kinds of salaries this season to players and ex-players: Bobby Abreu, $13.6 million; David Bell, $4.7 million; Pat Burrell, $9.75 million; Tom Gordon, $4.5 million; Jon Lieber, $7.583 million; Mike Lieberthal, $7.5 million; Jimmy Rollins, $5 million; Randy Wolf, $9.125 million.

The only player on that list who has Porter's star power is Abreu, who makes more than three times as much money and now plays for the New York Yankees.

Of course, MLB has to pay 25 players compared to the 53 on an NFL roster. MLB teams, however, operate as many as six minor-league clubs, while the NFL has its players developed free of charge by the colleges. The travel and in-season expense money doled out by MLB is considerably larger than that incurred by the NFL.

The reason for this disparity is the Major League Players Baseball Association historically has taken a confrontational stance with ownership. It has not been afraid to go on strike and it has clearly and repeatedly outwitted ownership at the bargaining table. Upshaw has chosen not to be as confrontational, perhaps correctly feeling his players didn't have the commitment that the baseball players did.

But, in failing to gain higher wages, he also has failed to come through with guaranteed money, which baseball and basketball players have. In a sport where injury can wipe out a career quickly, it would seem that guaranteed money should have been a priority with Upshaw. And because it wasn't, then higher salaries should have resulted.

He should have got one or the other -- guaranteed money or higher salaries. He got neither.

Upshaw is not a docile pet. He's a man of integrity. He's also a failed labor leader. If Porter is looking for a reason for his frustration over his contractual situation, he should look no further than Upshaw.