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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, right, smiles with head coach Mike Singletary, left, during an NFL football news conference at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009. Crabtree has agreed to a six-year contract with the 49ers after several months of difficult negotiations. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
The 49ers waited and waited, hoping that their first round draft pick Michael Crabtree would sign that contract. Crabtree stayed at home, listened to his agent Eugene Parker, and hoped that he would get the money he believed was rightfully his.
We hoped for a contract signing on August 1st, the first day of training camp for the 49ers. Nothing happened. As the preseason games rolled on, Crabtree remained quiet, letting us wonder if he would ever sign with the 49ers. The 49ers waited patiently.
Crabtree's cousin spoke about the possibility of sitting out the whole year-- something that seemed very strange at the time. Deion Sanders told us that other teams were trying to talk with Crabtree. There was a lot of buzz going around the airwaves. The 49ers patiently waited, hoping that maybe something better will turn out.
The first game of the regular season passed. The 49ers won and we wondered if the holdout would end. Crabtree had not even contacted the team and the 49ers continued to wait. Finally, after four games into the season, nearly seven weeks of speculations since the beginning of training camp, Crabtree and Parker found themselves in the Bay Area to discuss the contract.
Why now? Why not sooner? The 49ers did file tampering charges against the New York Jets, claiming that the Jets illegally contacted Crabtree's party about possibly working a trade for the rookie. Coincidentally on the same day that Crabtree signed the contract with the 49ers, the Jets made a trade for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards.
Is there that possibility that Crabtree knew the Jets were in the works for getting Edwards and had no need for him? That might have pulled the trigger for the deal to get done as soon as possible. But it probably isn't as big as a factor as the 49ers on-field success. With the 49ers sitting atop the division, maybe Crabtree realized that he was missing out on something special.
And that's what the 49ers executed perfectly to secure Michael Crabtree to their roster. The team continued on their business without having the rookie become a distraction. The success on the field as well as the media attention that the football team was getting was exactly what the team planned on during the off-season.
Mike Singletary knew that his focus for the 49ers since being hired as the full-time head coach in December was to build a team with a foundation of unity. Since Day 1 of Crabtree's contract holdout, Singletary continued to preach of the team's goal of working with the players that were in training camp. There was going to be no distraction whatsoever of the holdout. The huge issue became a non-issue. As the weeks continued to go by during the regular season, I started to forget about the holdout myself. The team's success on the field made Crabtree irrelevant at the time.
The 49ers made it clear that they wanted to have Crabtree with the team, but if he didn't want to join, then that was going to be it. General manager Scot McCloughan said he understood the team's willingness to not cave in was going to set a standard for the team's new identity. And because the 49ers did not cave in from the media influence or of their own fear, they won the battle.
On paper it looks like Crabtree got a bigger deal of a six-year, $32 million contract. But in reality, the 49ers knew that they weren't going to be the ones crawling to Parker, asking him to consider the offer. It happened the other way around.
When Crabtree spoke to the media on Wednesday, his agent Eugene Parker was nowhere to be seen. For a guy that worked so hard in providing his client with the best offer, it was clear that he knew that he didn't deliver what he promised. It makes it hard to show face after realizing that the 49ers were the ones that came out on top.
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Comments
I just hope the fans give this kid a chance. It will take the better part of what's left of this season to get up to speed. IF the Niner's make it to the post season, this kid might make an impact this year. Time will tell how long it takes for him to adjust to playing football faster than he ever has before. He will have to learn to play NFL football, and that is no easy task. What makes it harder is that he will have to learn on the fly because he missed all of training camp, where most rookies become players. Sure, he has 2 weeks with the Bye to learn a few plays, but he won't have the whole offense down in 2 weeks. He will be ready to play on 10/25 against Houston. But you wont see the finished product. You might get a little sizzle and flash, but it will take training camp next year to make an NFL Caliber receiver. Patience WILL pay off. If this kid is half as good as he THINKS he is, the Niners will be happy. For now, he can be a speedy decoy to help in the passing game !
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