Blog #6 In My Humble Opinion

All but one player who was picked in the first round of last April's NFL draft came to terms on a contract with their respective team. The one disgruntled player who didn't was Michael Crabtree, a highly touted receiver from Texas Tech University who set a number of school records before leaving early for the draft. The long saga of Crabtree's relationship with the San Francisco 49ers has been covered in every bay area newspaper for the past couple months.

After sitting out nearly a month of the season, Crabtree and the 49ers finally came to terms on a six year contract that will pay the receiver over $20 million per year. In my humble opinion, this is a disgrace to the game of football and the business that it has become. Players are now able to demand ridiculous amounts of money before proving anything at the professional level. If they turn out to be a bust like many do, the entire franchise can be set back for years. This has happened in several instances such as Ryan Leaf and Alex Smith, both of whom doomed their franchises from nearly a decade.

Football used to be played by tough guys who cared more about hitting someone in the mouth than hitting the bank. In my opinion this isn't the case anymore as the game has become overrun by greed and the lures of multi-million dollar contracts. In my opinion, if you have proven that you deserve to be paid top dollar then you are entitled to receive due credit, but rookies who are coming out of the draft with no experience should have no place to demand $20 million a year.

If I'm a teammate of Crabtree's on the 49ers I'm making sure he earns his pay. It's clear he already thinks he is better than the current group of wide receivers, but if he doesn't prove that right away there will be a price to pay. Crabtree is setting the bar extremely high for himself, and already polishing a reputation that reflects a "me" before the team mentality.

In my opinion the 49ers made a mistake giving in to Crabtree's demand. Yes, they need his play making ability on the field but at what cost? They allowed a rookie and inexperienced agent to boss them around in negotiations, showing future players who think they are worth more then they are paid that they can do the same.

Link to article: http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_13504478?nclick_check=1