Singletary Will Make Crabtree Earn His Stripes Before Playing

If you're someone who is familiar with Mike Singletary's demeanor as a player, you probably weren't surprised by his antics during the early stages of his coaching career in San Francisco. 

Singletary famously pulled his pants down in the locker room at halftime of his 49ers coaching debut to try to motivate his team.  In that same game, he sent home starting tight end Vernon Davis with over 10 minutes left to play for slapping an opponent.

It is this type of take-no-prisoners approach that Singletary prides himself on, both as a player and a coach.  In fact, he coaches just like he played when he won the Super Bowl as a part of the frightening 1985 Chicago Bears defense.  For him, accountability and discipline are used as the foundation for his coaching philosophy.  And if you're thinking about complaining or giving up in any way, forget it. 

So when Michael Crabtree embarked on his contract hold-out saga, I don't think he thought about the impression he was making on the 49ers' head coach.  Because if he did, then I believe his butt would have been in camp. 

I'm not saying that Crabtree doesn't have a right to stand up for himself financially.  It's possible that the contract negotiations were relatively unfair...at least you'd like to think so if you're a 49ers fan or a football purist, wondering what he has been complaining about all this time. 

But now that he has agreed to terms, what happens from here? 

Well, it's going to be a long road to the field for Crabtree.  First of all, he needs to learn the fundamentals: understanding the playbook and getting up to professional game speed.  However, most importantly, in my opinion, Crabtree has to earn the respect of his teammates...and oh yes, the intimidating coach Singletary.  

You see, Singletary doesn't care about how much money you make or how high you were chosen in the draft.  He cares about whether or not you're a football player.  So for Crabtree, he can't expect to enchant everyone with his draft status or college statistics.  

This is the pros...and more importantly this is the pros under Mike Singletary.  He decides what happens and who plays. 

I have no doubts Crabtree will climb his way out of the Singletary doghouse.  The question is how long will it take for him to adjust to his coach's philosophy? 

Well, let's just hope it doesn't take him as long as it did to sign his first NFL contract...