Michael Crabtree going down a dangerous path with holdout

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jeff_pearlman/08/07/crabtree/index.html?eref=sihpT1

In a nation that often seems to lack the principle historically required from its great and just people, it is reassuring to see that, once again, a select few are willing to stand up and fight for what is righteous.

First, on Wednesday, we learned that Paula Abdul, our modern-day John Adams, is walking away from American Idol after the show refused to pay her more than $5 million per season. Then, one day later, Michael Crabtree, the San Francisco 49ers' recent first-round pick and a sure-handed, slow-afoot J.J Stokes impersonator, insisted he is more than willing to skip the entire season and re-enter the draft should San Francisco not meet his demands -- believed to be in the range of $23 million guaranteed.

For those of you who automatically pooh-pooh the so-called greed of folks like Abdul and Crabtree, I say -- Have you no decency? This, my friends, is not greed. Not indulgence. Not covetousness. Not selfishness and not piggishness.

..snip

Just nine years ago Matt Harrington, a highly touted high school pitcher out of Palmdale, Calif., was selected seventh overall by the Colorado Rockies. At the advice of his agent, Tommy Tanzer, Harrington rejected the team's $4.9 million offer and re-entered the 2001 draft. Then the 2002 draft. Then the 2003 draft. Then the 2004 draft. To make a long -- and ultimately tragic -- story short, at last check Harrington was earning $11.50 per hour installing tires at a Costco.

He is far from alone. How can anyone forget veteran second baseman Jody Reed turning down a three-year, $8 million offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1993, only to be forced to accept a one-year, $300,000 deal from the Milwaukee Brewers the following season? Or how about Latrell Sprewell, the four-time NBA All-Star who rejected a three-year, $21 million contract with the Timberwolves by uttering, "I have a family to feed." Sprewell never played in the NBA again, and last year his yacht was auctioned off for $856,000 after he defaulted on a $1.5 million mortgage.

Indeed, from Juan Gonzalez to Jamal Anderson to Lance Parrish, the sports landscape is littered with the rotted carcasses of ego-inflated, financially insulted men unwise to Charles de Gaulle's most lasting quotation, "The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men." If Michael Crabtree refuses to sign with San Francisco, he does so at his own peril. Next year's NFL Draft looks to be wide-receiver heavy, what with Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant, USC's Damian Williams and Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles potentially leading a stampede of pass catchers.

Maybe Crabtree will only enhance his status by, oh, using the down time to pump up his physique and cut a tenth of a second or two from his 40 time. More than likely, however, he and Abdul will soon find themselves in eerily similar circumstances: Forgotten, depressed, and chatting up William Katt while wondering whether there's time for a bathroom break between shifts at the Celebrity Superstar Autograph Show inside Banquet Room C at the Idaho Falls Holiday Inn.

..snip

So is he hosed or are the forty-niners hosed?

Based on what I posted the other day, it sounds like the shots are being called -- or at least influenced -- by Crabtree's cousin, David Wells, and not his agent Eugene Parker. If this indeed true, the 49ers drafted not just another disappointment, but a real idiot.


The Official 49ers :wtf: List of First Rounders:

Vernon Davis -- 2006
Alex Smith -- 2005
Raushan Woods -- 2004
Kwame Harris -- 2003
Mike Rumpf -- 2002
Reggie McGrew -- 1999
R.W. McQuarters - 1998
Jim Druckenmiller -- 1997
Israel Ifeanyichukwu-- 1996
J.J Stokes -- 1995

In 2001 and 2000 they drafted Andre Carter and Julian Peterson.
Hey, where did they go right?
--------------------------

Thanks for posting madinmaryland

2007-Patrick Willis (2007 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, All Pro 2007-08)


It's not all bad..

And it's too early to tell with Balmer.

It's not all telling, because a lot 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounders have contributed and many are still with the team.

But holy shit -- what a record of first round picks! The last real success story at first round (not counting Willis) was Bryant Young in 1994!

:hi:

thanks for the exact information.

What is really fucked up, is the guy is willing to possibly throw away his career for another couple million.

:shrug: