Tex Schramm said that to Gene Upshaw back in 1987, right? So it would seem but it's not true. Actually, Gene Upshaw made up that analogy, not Schramm, and he wasn't quoting Schramm as some claim. The source of that story is an article in the Sep 25, 1987, edition of Newsday, here is the relevant quote:
It is clear that Upshaw came up with the analogy, he was NOT quoting Schramm. It took me less than ten minutes to track down the original story in the Newsday archives. Why do so many journalists (rather, bloggers) continue to get the story wrong?Upshaw said that Schramm was very direct about free agency during the talks yesterday.
"Tex made it very clear," Upshaw said. "He said the owners are the stewards of the game, and the players are only transient workers. The players come and go, but the game is the most important thing. I guess you have to relate that comment to something that it reminds me of: They are the ranchers and we are the cattle and they could always get more cattle."
By the way, I've uploaded a copy of the original 1987 article to google docs. PM me if you want the link (it's copyrighted material and I don't want to post the link publicly).