Crabtree Now Has Opportunity to Prove His True Character

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Forget about all the talk of Michael Crabtree being arrogant, selfish and stupid just for failing to sign his first (and possibly only) NFL contract until after week four of the regular season.

And if nothing else, don’t pay attention to NBC analyst and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison calling Crabtree “The biggest idiot I’ve ever seen in the NFL” on 950 ESPN in Philadelphia, as Harrison was a cheap-shot artist and a steroid user as a player.

Crabtree’s true character will be revealed in the upcoming weeks as an active wide receiver for the 49ers, not as an unsigned and indecisive first round draft pick with a money hungry agent.  

He is now faced with a number of challenges right away as he tries to become a superstar, and fans should judge the player that Crabtree will be both on and off the field by whether he conquers them with passion or hopes that they eventually disintegrate.

The mountains awaiting him are all of his doing of course, as he could have easily signed a contract with the Niners before training camp and started against the Arizona Cardinals on Week One.

He has a lot of work to do, and a lot of changes to adjust to.

How he handles his first year in the NFL should go a long way in determining whether he’ll be a headache for the rest of his career or the quiet and shy hard worker that I believe him to be.

Crabtree was the primary option of Mike Leach’s pass-happy attack at Texas Tech, but he’ll now be playing in an offense that is centered on handoffs and tosses.

Plus, it is not a stretch to say that he could end up being no more than a third or fourth wide receiver this year and see few passes thrown in his direction if he can’t quickly learn how to play against NFL secondaries.

And he’ll also have to comprehend a significant amount of the intricacies of the team’s playbook in an extremely short period of time, which will require him to put in extra hours studying it.

How quickly he grasps the Niners’ offense and how hard he works in practice in the first couple of weeks will be a significant indicator in whether he wants to be the best receiver in the league or just expects the game to come to him and feels as if he doesn’t have to earn the right to play.

And Crabtree also has to fit in with a group of players that have been together since August and who realize that their chances of running away with the NFC West Title this season are high regardless of whether Crabtree is immediately the next Andre Johnson or not.  

Some 49ers are probably already cynical of Crabtree, and Frank Gore and Patrick Willis have seen too many losses to let him become a distraction.

How he fits in with the team (which will be reflected in what his teammates say about his work ethic and personality to the media) will reveal much more about his character than the supposed selfishness that he showed by holding out for so long.

And perhaps most importantly, Crabtree is now playing for a disciplinarian in Mike Singletary who is not afraid to lambaste a player in front of television cameras, nor make an individual or the entire team run laps as punishment for mistakes and scuffles.

Singletary won’t hesitate to get on Crabtree if he criticizes the coach for a lack of playing time or quarterback Shaun Hill for not throwing him the ball enough (none of which Crabtree did at Texas Tech), and will do the same if he waltzes through practices and meetings in a lackadaisical manner.

Crabtree should be looked at a lot differently if he proves to approach practices with passion and quickly blends in with his team while also understanding that he will have to earn every snap that he gets this season.

I think the media and fans have it all wrong with Crabtree, as it’s tough to be the next Chad Ochocinco if you’re as shy and reserved as he seems to be.

Crabtree will have the perfect opportunity to prove his character through surpassing his self-imposed obstacles this season, and it should only help him that he now has Singletary, Gore and the veteran Pro Bowl wide receiver Isaac Bruce to steer him in the right direction instead of a greedy agent and MC Hammer.