By Paul Gotham
Somewhere near the intersection of Kelly Stouffer Street and Darrius Heyward-Bey Boulevard football fans will find San Francisco 49ers recent signing, Michael Crabtree. Hopefully, the rookie holdout will find the address of humility.
49er general manager, Scot McCloughan, announced Wednesday the team reached an agreement with Crabtree and his agent Eugene Parker. Thus ending the second-longest holdout in league history by an NFL rookie.
Since Wednesday morning, Crabtree has joined his teammates on the practice field. The former Texas Tech standout is easy to find. He’s the one without a logo on his helmet. Instead, the Dallas, Texas native has his last name printed on tape across the front of his helmet. Not exactly the way Crabtree wanted to stand out from the group.
As last year’s Bowl Championship Series came to a close, and football fans began turning their attention to the upcoming draft, Crabtree’s status as the number one receiver seemed set. Media outlets and pundits fed the monster. Crabtree prepared himself to be the first wide out to climb the stage at the NFL’s latest made-for-tv event.
What happened on draft day should have surprised no one. What happened as a result may change everyone’s perception of NFL rookies.
No one could blame Crabtree for failing to realize the illogical mind of Al Davis. Trying to use that lack of logic as a basis for negotiation makes Crabtree guilty of excessive pride.
With the seventh pick in the recent NFL draft, Al Davis did something he is famous for: he ignored conventional wisdom. No, he didn’t try and draft Gino Torretta. The owner of the Oakland Raiders overlooked Crabtree and took Darrius Heyward-Bey.
That mistake should have touched off a monumental celebration within the Crabtree entourage. They wouldn’t have to worry about their boy dropping into the abyss between silver and black. Instead, Crabtree sulked. With an ego the size of the bay between Oakland and San Francisco, Crabtree demanded a contract worthy of such arrogance.
The 49ers offered five years, $20 million with a guaranteed $16 million.
Davis signed Heyward-Bey to five-yeal deal with $23.5 million guaranteed.
Crabtree balked at the 49ers offer.
And so began the 71 day odyssey that ended Wednesday. Official details of Crabtree’s contract have not been made public, but an anonymous source close to the deal reported that Crabtree will receive $17 million guaranteed.
Crabtree earned a cool million by sitting out. He also might have learned a lesson for those who follow him.
As July melted into August and training camps opened, stories of holdouts gone awry must have made their way to Crabtree’s ears. Surely, someone mentioned the tribulations of Kelly Stouffer. While Crabtree’s current contract falls second to Heyward-Bey’s, his holdout also fell short.
In the ’87 draft, the St. Louis Cardinals took Stouffer in the first round. The quarterback held out and sat out for a year. After the 1996 season, Stouffer retired into anonymity until Crabtree’s experience recalled his mistake.
Crabtree has made his way back to the practice field. Here’s hoping he has learned a lesson. At a time when many people would do whatever it takes to have a job, Crabtree decided to put ego in front of common sense. Here’s hoping his hubris doesn’t result in him sinking into anonymity.
Funniest part of this saga was the end when Singletary was speaking in the news conference and Crabtree was standing about 7 feet away to the back of him. He looked like a little kid who was caught stealing by his father and forced to go to the store to return the item.
Can this relationship really work? He proclaimed the WR position the king of football?