Ex-NFL union boss Garvey dead at 76

Ed Garvey, the lawyer who led the NFL Players Association through strikes in 1974 and 1982, died at age 76 at a nursing home in Verona, Wis., after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Garvey was the players’ union counsel and executive director from 1971-83. Neither of the player strikes was particularly effective, and the 1982 walkout resulted in the season being shortened from 16 games to nine.

Garvey initially became involved with football when he was assigned to counsel NFLPA president John Mackey, a tight end who would make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as the union negotiated a new labor agreement with the league. Soon after, Garvey became the union’s first executive director when the NFLPA became the certified bargaining agent for the players.

One of Garvey’s main objectives was to eliminate the Rozelle Rule that bound players to their teams and prevented free agency of any kind. The union didn’t achieve free agency until 1993, when another former player and Hall of Famer, Gene Upshaw, had taken over leading the union. . . .

The San Francisco 49ers signed free agent cornerback K’Waun Williams to a one-year deal, the team’s first roster addition since the hiring of new general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan. Also, longtime personnel executive Tom Gamble is leaving the organization after the front-office overhaul. . . .

Tight end Julius Thomas passed his physical with the Miami Dolphins in a precursor to a trade that will be completed next month with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a source said.